Why Surrogacy In India is Debated?

An Australian baby born to a surrogate Indian mother was abandoned in India. It has highlighted some tension in India as well as Australia. The news hit the headlines after the Australian parents abandoned the twin because they wanted just the one child and were unprepared for the birth of twins.

The Australian High Commission in India tried persuasion and confirmed the veracity of the reports, but could not help because surrogacy is a personal matter. Indian Surrogacy sector has always been under media target for multiplicity of reasons. The Australian couple’s decision to fly away without the child raked another controversy.

Such cases have made surrogacy a debatable issue in India. Sometimes, it is some surrogacy clinics, some doctors or the commissioning parents, who have often gathered flak for their wrong practices and decision. Surrogacy, if practiced through right means without shortchanging or cheating anyone, can be a boon for human beings to gift their reproductive capabilities. Women in 

India agree to become gestational surrogates with dual reasons, to earn money for supporting their families and to help the couples in completing their families.

It is often perceived as exploitation of women working in surrogacy industry. Reproduction is a gift and women offering help to someone to share the gift. IVF in India and IVF in Raipur has been an example of successful surrogacy assistance throughout the years. The fact cannot be denied that there is an urgent need to regularise the sector for transparent ART procedure. Tight laws and strong legislation would restore faith of both surrogate mothers and commissioning parents in the process. Recently, the Australian Federal Circuit Court Chief Judge John Pascoe has called for a national enquiry into international commercial surrogacy. 

Commercial surrogacy was made legal in India in the year 2002. Looking at the high success rate and the number of doctors righteously working to help the couples, the commercial surrogacy is both beneficial for surrogates and couples.

There is an increase in global infertility rate and couples want to have babies with their own genes. Legal landscape surrounding surrogacy in India is cultivated on child-protection perspective. It was the day in 2002 on which surrogacy was legalized in India, when legal authorities started striving to push the sector on legal tracks.

India is abode for thousands of surrogate mothers, who are bearing children for Indian as well as foreign childless couples. The sector has widened its horizon in years, adding new criterions to safeguard the rights of surrogate mothers in India, recipient couples and the children born through surrogacy.

Throughout the years many questions are raised about surrogacy in India. Be it the reputed news dailies, or channels, the debate continues over the surrogacy as unregularised sector. This sometimes becomes the reason for infertile couple to question the legitimacy of the process and think whether surrogacy is India would safeguard legal rights or not. 

The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs has continued reassessing the surrogacy laws to plug the loopholes and form robust guidelines.

Later, the original Assisted Reproductive Technology Billwas drafted in 2008 with an aim to regulate surrogacy in India. The bill defines the responsibilities and duties of a surrogate mother, those seeking her services and the Indian facilities that provide such services.

Again in 2010, the ART Bill was redrafted to provide sufficient protection for surrogate mothers. The decision was taken after the Planning Commission recommended substantive changes in the legislation and advised the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) against pushing the draft Bill till the process of consultations was satisfactorily concluded. 

If the bill is passed, the foreigners seeking a surrogate in India will have to provide documentary proof that they would be able to take the child back to their country. They must also appoint a local guardian who will be legally responsible for the surrogate till the child is handed over to its parents. The draft bill would outlaw surrogacy by a relative who is not from the same generation as the woman who intends to keep the baby.

Few days back, the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) formulated rules and regulations on surrogacy and formed a committee to monitor. Under the newly formed rules, MMC has the power to suspend the license of the doctor guilty of malpractice.

The concerns with regard to the unregulated industry, unethical practices, especially lack of protection of the surrogate women’s health and rights, sex selection, lack of employment opportunities, and other health and rights issues of children born through surrogacy arrangements, and issues related to their citizenship are being addressed, and the ministry has been making strides in regularizing surrogacy. 

The bills are formed with a view to protect and safeguard the rights and health of the women who undergo these ART procedures, surrogates, egg donors and of the children born through these techniques. 

Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs formed new guidelines pertaining to surrogacy. The seven revised guidelines ensured protection of rights of surrogate, recipient parents and the child born through surrogacy. Through the guidelines, it was ensured that the couples seeking surrogacy assistance inIndia are not in any kind of dilemma about the process. The contract is signed between the surrogate and the recipient couple to ensure protection of rights. Therefore, the Indian ministry continues to revise and reassess the laws surrounding surrogacy consider the high surrogacy success rate.

Dr Neeraj Pahlajani

Obstetrician & IVF Specialist

(MS, DNB, FMAS, DRM - Germany)

MBBS - Lady Harding Medical College - New Delhi

MS - Obstetrics and Gynecology (PGI - Rohtak)

DNB - Obstetrics and Gynecology

FMAS - World Association of Laparoscopic Surgeons

DRM - Diploma in Reproductive Medicine (Germany)

Fellow in IVF & Embryology – (USA)

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Pahlajani Test Tube Baby Centre

(Mata Laxmi Nursing Home)

Anupam Nagar, Near T.V. Tower, Raipur (Chhattisgarh) India

Phone:  +91- 771- 4052967, +91- 771- 4053285 Mobile:  +91- 9770997645, +91- 9329630455

Email - contact@raipurivf.com

Visit Our Websites

Pahlajani Test Tube Baby Centre - Raipur

Low Cost IVF India - Pahlajani Test Tube Baby Centre

Pahlajani Critical Pregnancy Care Centre - Raipur

Why Surrogacy Needs Regulation?

While there are activists to fight for the rights of surrogate mothers, no is nobody has raised voice for the newborns. Yes, there are couples who have abandoned their children born through surrogacy in India. One of the recent cases was reported when an Australian couple abandoned one of the twins born through surrogacy in India. In the absence of any legal safeguard, malpractices such as this keep happening, says experts. There are many issues besides sex selection and exploitation of the poor surrogate mothers. There are a number of factors emerging from every side to taint surrogacy process. While surrogacy is a process to help an infertile couple to have their own children, there are clinics, couples and middlemen engaged in illegal activities. This cycle will continue till the surrogacy sector is regularised.

In 2014, India recorded around 20,000 approx surrogacy centers. However, only 270 have been enlisted by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on the basis of infrastructure and trained manpower.  India is fast being recognised as an attractive option for commercial surrogacy centre, human rights activists maintain that while commercial surrogacy in itself is welcome where persons unable to have children are aided by willing surrogates to have their biological children, problem comes in due to the exploitative nature of the business and lack of regulation in the industry.

No fixed compensation structure, no laws that cater to the health and number of births that a surrogate can support and usually incomplete advertisements of the services by medical establishments work against the interest of the women involved in the case.

After regular attempts to regulate the surrogacy sector in India, an AssistedReproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill, 2013—an attempt by India to regulate commercial surrogacy—is likely to be presented to the cabinet on Thursday before being introduced in Parliament.

After making necessary modifications in the earlier versions of the bill passed in 2008 and 2010, the cabinet approved it with the vetting from Law Ministry and Planning Commission.

Below are the few highlights of Assisted Reproductive Technologies(Regulation) Bill, 2013,

-       The Bill addresses all issues pertaining to ethics in commercial surrogacy.

-       The Bill is only to help infertile couples and should act as a deterrent to commercial surrogacy.

The CII study estimated that nearly 10,000 foreign couples visit India for reproductive services and nearly 30% are either single or homosexual.

-        However, the Surrogacy Bill will disqualify homosexual couples, foreign single individuals and couples in live-in relationships from having children through surrogate mothers in India. The law also imposes age restrictions on surrogate mothers.

-        Homosexuals and foreign single individuals are barred from seeking surrogacy assistance in India.

-       Other than this, many restrictions imposed are not encouraging for business.

The recent Thailand controversy has brought the infertility clinics across the globe under scanner. Throughout the years, surrogacy in India remained unregulated but the day bill was cleared in cabinet it gave hopes to hundreds and hundreds people in India as well as overseas. It was a time between the years 2008 and 2013, when surrogacy practice in India was questioned under the heads of social and ethical issues.

Considering the fact that growing surrogacy tourism inIndia and increase in number of patients from overseas to commission surrogacy due to low cost surrogacy in India, the surrogacysector needed to be regularised. In India, the practice of commercial surrogacy started in the year 2002. Twelve years after the specialists gave birth to thousands of babies through this process, still the controversy about commercialisation denies dying. Surrogacy was commercialised for equal opportunity to surrogate mothers to support their families with the money they get. However, the tales about exploitation of women in the name of surrogacy have grabbed the headlines every now and then. 

Dr Neeraj Pahlajani

Obstetrician & IVF Specialist

(MS, DNB, FMAS, DRM - Germany)

MBBS - Lady Harding Medical College - New Delhi

MS - Obstetrics and Gynecology (PGI - Rohtak)

DNB - Obstetrics and Gynecology

FMAS - World Association of Laparoscopic Surgeons

DRM - Diploma in Reproductive Medicine (Germany)

Fellow in IVF & Embryology – (USA)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pahlajani Test Tube Baby Centre

(Mata Laxmi Nursing Home)

Anupam Nagar, Near T.V. Tower, Raipur (Chhattisgarh) India

Phone:  +91- 771- 4052967, +91- 771- 4053285 Mobile:  +91- 9770997645, +91- 9329630455

Email - contact@raipurivf.com

Visit Our Websites

Pahlajani Test Tube Baby Centre - Raipur

Low Cost IVF India - Pahlajani Test Tube Baby Centre

Pahlajani Critical Pregnancy Care Centre - Raipur

Be aware of fake Surrogacy Clinics. Spotting Your Surrogacy Clinic in India

If you wish to have a limited relationship with the surrogate mother, but have the benefit of excellent healthcare, then Surrogacy in India is an attractive option.  With a range of alternative medical solutions to childlessness becoming available, surrogacy in India has emerged as one route for many couples.  For couples who want to have their names on the birth certificate, Surrogacy in Raipur should be your destination.

While some countries have banned the practice, commercial gestational surrogacy, in which a woman is paid to have a baby to whom she has no genetic link, has caught on in India. Here, the surrogates have no parental rights and cannot change their mind about handing over a child to the intended parents.

Many couples have pursued surrogacy in India and have been able to have a child with the parents own genetic material, or with the assistance of a donor egg, and the help of an Indian surrogate. After the first surrogate delivery in India in June 1994, India has steadily emerged as aninternational surrogacy destination.

India has offered relatively low cost surrogacy and medical facilities, with the use of latest reproductive technology, and the availability of surrogate mothers, who show dedication. Although the commercialisation of motherhood has raised ethical and social questions, has also raised fears of the exploitation of surrogate mothers. There are hundreds of quack infertility specialists, who have adopted this practice to fool the couples and extract huge sum of cash. In an effort to regularise the sector, the Indian Council of Medical Research in 2005 issued guidelines for the accreditation, supervision and regulation of surrogacy clinics, but those remain on paper. An expert committee drafted the 

Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill, 2010.

How to spot you surrogacy clinic in India?

1.      You need to find a clinic that has experience with working with International clients. Therefore, ask questions and investigate.

2.    Ask for the statistics of surrogacy clinic

3.    Calculate and review the costs of surrogacy. Get a detailed list and cost for both a successful and an unsuccessful attempt. Also ask about additional costs (for instance, neonatal intensive care costs if the baby is born pre-mature).

4.    Be clear on what you want. If you are looking for egg donor then review the availability of Indian and Non-Indian donors. If you are sending your embryos to India, then ask about the process. If you are using your own eggs, check out the facilities.

5.     On your first meeting with your treating doctor, discuss with the doctor how many embryos you want to transfer. Most reputable clinics will only allow up to four embryos, but this will depend on the quality of the embryos. While this can increases the odds of a successful pregnancy, it also increases the odds of a multiple pregnancy. This is a very personal decision, but be aware that under the current laws gestational surrogates can only carry twins and a higher order pregnancy will result in a foetal reduction.

The Union government is now set to table in Parliament theAssisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill 2013. It would address the issue of absence of appropriate legal provisions to ensure that surrogate mothers, who often enter into loosely drafted agreements with commissioning parents, do not become vulnerable is a serious issue. A comprehensive regulatory framework and binding legal provisions could bring order to the field, but the larger moral question whether human reproduction should be commercialised would still remain.

Dr Neeraj Pahlajani

Obstetrician & IVF Specialist

(MS, DNB, FMAS, DRM - Germany)

MBBS - Lady Harding Medical College - New Delhi

MS - Obstetrics and Gynecology (PGI - Rohtak)

DNB - Obstetrics and Gynecology

FMAS - World Association of Laparoscopic Surgeons

DRM - Diploma in Reproductive Medicine (Germany)

Fellow in IVF & Embryology – (USA)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pahlajani Test Tube Baby Centre

(Mata Laxmi Nursing Home)

Anupam Nagar, Near T.V. Tower, Raipur (Chhattisgarh) India

Phone:  +91- 771- 4052967, +91- 771- 4053285 Mobile:  +91- 9770997645, +91- 9329630455

Email - contact@raipurivf.com

Visit Our Websites

Pahlajani Test Tube Baby Centre - Raipur

Low Cost IVF India - Pahlajani Test Tube Baby Centre

Pahlajani Critical Pregnancy Care Centre - Raipur

India versus Thailand on Surrogacy

A slew of surrogacy scandals have lifted a lid on Thailand’s largely unregulated commercial surrogacy industry, which has been around for over a decade. Below are the few controversial cases that drew a large amount of flak and also led to Thai military government’s decision to draft a new law that is expected to outlaw the business of surrogacy.

Below are the three scandals that brought unregulated surrogacy sector of Thailand under scanner –

An Australian couple, who had hired a Thai surrogate to their twins, returned home with a healthy baby girl but left behind her twin brother with Down syndrome, in late July.

Shortly after, a new case of 24-year-old Japanese man who fathered at least 16 babies via Thai surrogates emerged.

A third case emerged when an Australian man charged with sexually abusing twin girls he fathered several years ago with a Thai surrogate. The man was charged in an Australian court last year for committing indecent acts with a child.

Surrogacy Laws in Thailand

Thailand has become a favorite destination for couples from Australia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and a low-cost alternative to the United States. However, Thailand is one of the few countries in Asia where commercial surrogacy is not specifically banned by law. Previously, the Medical Council of Thailand had a regulation stating that doctors cannot perform surrogacy for pay or risk losing their license. But that penalty has rarely been enforced and there are no rules covering surrogacy agencies or surrogate mothers, leaving room for commercial surrogacy to occur without oversight.

Thailand's New Draft Law on Surrogacy

In response to the recent global attention, Thailand’s military government has vowed to shut down the commercial surrogacy industry. A draft law expected to pass the junta-appointed legislature sometime this year prohibits commercial surrogacy and would penalize offenders with up to 10 years in prison. Agencies, advertisers, or recruiters of surrogate mothers will face up to five years in jail and a fine of up to 100,000 baht ($3,000). Experts say they fear the law will not end commercial surrogacy in Thailand and instead push it underground.

Surrogacy Laws in India

Indian Surrogacy Laws remained lose for years, while the medical council continued its attempt to regulate surrogacy sector for years. After 2002, Surrogacy Laws in India have undergone an immense change. The Union of India is taking steps to for legalizing surrogacy and making India a risk-free destination when it comes to international surrogacy arrangements. The Indian Government is implementing legal mechanisms to ensure that the child born out of surrogacy arrangement in India would have a safe passage back home. Though such measures have affected few nationals, it could be considered legally safe in the long run for surrogacy in India.

After rounds of discussion with various ministries, the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Bill, 2013 has been cleared and will be presented before Union Cabinet during winter session of 2014, confirmed a senior health ministry official on September 22. The decision comes closely after the regularisation and legal framework of Surrogacy in India was debated. The undeniable fact about several illegal ART units cropping up across the country to shortchange the infertile couples gives a reason for the urgent need of passing the bill.

Indian Government has also chalked out certain guidelines on surrogacy to make the whole process transparent and allow to hitches. The Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Bill, 2013 seeks to address issues like number of pregnancies allowed to a surrogate mother, age limit and due compensation paid to the surrogates. A framework would be designed for foreigners to seek surrogacy help from India surrogate mothers. With this, the issues of consent and health of surrogate mother would also be resolved.

The Health Ministry has considered the fact that commercial surrogacy changes to biological ability of a woman to reproduce into a commercial activity when money transaction is involved and lack of proper legal framework further complicated the whole process. 

Therefore, an immediate need of strong legal provisions to safeguard the interest of the surrogate mother, commissioning parents and the child born through surrogacy process has been considered.

Dr Neeraj Pahlajani

Obstetrician & IVF Specialist

(MS, DNB, FMAS, DRM - Germany)

MBBS - Lady Harding Medical College - New Delhi

MS - Obstetrics and Gynecology (PGI - Rohtak)

DNB - Obstetrics and Gynecology

FMAS - World Association of Laparoscopic Surgeons

DRM - Diploma in Reproductive Medicine (Germany)

Fellow in IVF & Embryology – (USA)

For Low Cost IVF India, Raipur (Chhattisgarh - India),

Pahlajani Test Tube Baby Centre

(Mata Laxmi Nursing Home)

Anupam Nagar, Near T.V. Tower, Raipur (Chhattisgarh) India

Phone:  +91- 771- 4052967, +91- 771- 4053285 Mobile:  +91- 9770997645, +91- 9329630455

Email - contact@raipurivf.com

Visit Our Websites

Pahlajani Test Tube Baby Centre - Raipur

Low Cost IVF India - Pahlajani Test Tube Baby Centre

Pahlajani Critical Pregnancy Care Centre - Raipur

Changes in Surrogacy Tourism in India and Raipur

Commercial surrogacy is a booming industry in India and in recent years ranks of childless foreign couples looking for a low-cost, legally simple route to parenthood have been joined by gay couples and singles.

India was a popular destination for gay couples seeking children till the year 2011 when Indian decriminalised consensual sex between homosexuals.

However, in 2012, the rules were revised and reformulated for foreign couples. It said that foreign couples seeking to enter into a surrogacy arrangement in India must be a "man and woman (who) are duly married and the marriage should be sustained at least two years".

While the government has been pushing the country as a medical tourism destination, the issue of wealthy foreigners paying poor Indians to have babies has raised ethical concerns in many Indian minds. Hundreds of couples visit India every year to undergo IVF in Raipur.

More than 3,000 fertility clinics operate across India, and some can be quite flashy. Surrogacy Laws in India are also undergoing an immense change lately. The Union of India is taking steps to position India as a legally risk-free destination when it comes to international surrogacy arrangements. 

The Indian Government is implementing legal mechanisms to ensure that the child born out of surrogacy arrangement in India would have a safe passage back home. Though such measures have affected few nationals, it could be considered legally safe in the long run for surrogacy in India.

The measures, circulated to Indian missions abroad in late 2012, which only came to light in the Indian media on Friday, mark the first step to the regulation of "surrogacy tourism" in India.

The cost factor has made India a favourite destination for medical tourism, especially the quest for a child. The low cost surrogacy has attracted lot of infertile couples from globe to India. Surrogacy in India is an attractive option for couples who wish to have their names on the birth certificate; want to have a professional or limited relationship with their surrogate, but have the benefit of excellent healthcare. Surrogates in India have no parental rights and cannot change their mind about handing over a child to the intended parents.

Dr Neeraj Pahlajani

Website

http://www.raipurivf.com/

http://www.pahlajanipregnancycare.com/

http://lowcostivfindia.com/

Email

drpahlajaniraipur@gmail.com

Surrogacy and Singles in India

India has issued new rules barring foreign gay couples and single people from using surrogate mothers to become parents in the proposed Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill 2013 that aims to regulate surrogacy in India. The decision has drawn sharp criticism from gay rights advocates and fertility clinics in Raipur.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), according to the guidelines of July 9, 2012, restricted surrogacy to foreign nationals; i.e. a man and a woman married for at least two years would be required to take a medical visa for surrogacy in India. As of now, even though surrogacy is an administrative concern and in the domain of the MoHFW, it has been decided that till the enactment of a law on the ART Bill, 2013, the guidelines issued by the MHA will prevail till then. Hence, foreign single parent surrogacy is barren.

It was in 2012, when the home ministry debarred gay couples and single foreigners from having an Indian surrogate bear their child as only a foreign “man and woman” married at least two years will be granted visas.

Since then, IVF in Raipur and Surrogacy in Raipur is practiced according to the MHA guidelines.

In March 2014, departments and ministries of the Government of India reviewed the drafted Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2013 (ART Bill).

After revision, the decision to restrict surrogacy in India to “infertile Indian married couples” only, was taken with a belief that it would prevent exploitation of Indian women who may be pushed to take the risk of surrogacy in the face of financial hardships.

This decision came after extensive public debate across the country involving all stake holders about the unregulated surrogacy sector in India. According to the guidelines of 2005, there was no legal bar for the use of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) by a single or an unmarried woman, and the child born would have legal rights on the woman or man concerned.

Thereafter, the draft ART Bills of 2008, 2010 and 2013, stated to be revised based on the recommendations of the Ministry of Law and Justice, have consistently proposed that ART in India.

The draft Bill 2013, an exhaustive document containing 100 sections addressing various issues relating to ART. The details are kept ‘secret’.

Restricting surrogacy to infertile Indian married couples only, and debarring all foreigners other than OCIs, PIOs and NRI married couples, is a turnaround in the thought process. The suggestion barring foreigners from commissioning surrogacy in India is stated to be subject to there being no conflict with other Indian laws applicable to foreigners, such as those for adoption. Many singles parents visit every year to Pahlajani IVF Clinic to undergo IVF in Raipur. 

The medical technology, advancement of science permitting free export of frozen embryos and other scientific methods have offered hopes to childless people. But attempts to shut out surrogacy for foreign nationalsand single persons, who have tied their hopes with India doctors and even to seek IVF in Raipur, may not be the ideal way to stamp out the hopes of persons wishing to be a parent.

Dr Neeraj Pahlajani

Websites 

http://www.raipurivf.com/

http://www.pahlajanipregnancycare.com/

http://lowcostivfindia.com/

Email – drpahlajaniraipur@gmail.com

What is Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill, 2013?

Commercial surrogacy is practiced in India, where the surrogate mother agrees to carry a pregnancy to term for a fee for commissioning couples. A study conducted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in the year 2012 revealed that the surrogacy sector is worth $2 billion, despite being completely unregulated.

After regular attempts to regulate the surrogacy sector in India, an Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill, 2013—an attempt by India to regulate commercial surrogacy—is likely to be presented to the cabinet on Thursday before being introduced in Parliament.

After making necessary modifications in the earlier versions of the bill passed in 2008 and 2010, the cabinet approved it with the vetting from Law Ministry and Planning Commission.

Below are the few highlights of Assisted Reproductive Technologies(Regulation) Bill, 2013,

-       The Bill addresses all issues pertaining to ethics in commercial surrogacy.

-       The Bill is only to help infertile couples and should act as a deterrent to commercial surrogacy.

The CII study estimated that nearly 10,000 foreign couples visit India for reproductive services and nearly 30% are either single or homosexual.

-        However, the Surrogacy Bill will disqualify homosexual couples, foreign single individuals and couples in live-in relationships from having children through surrogate mothers in India. The law also imposes age restrictions on surrogate mothers.

-        Homosexuals and foreign single individuals are barred from seeking surrogacy assistance in India.

-       Other than this, many restrictions imposed are not encouraging for business.

In earlier versions—in 2008 and 2010—the ART Bill relied on contract law to establish a relationship between the commissioning parents and the clinic. In the current version, the Bill states that a professional surrogate will be hired by a government-recognized ART Bank and not private fertility clinics, the current practice.

-         The compensation, as per the 2013 draft, will be a private negotiation between the surrogate mother and commissioning parents. Currently, IVF clinics decide the amount and pay the surrogate mother a portion. 

Last year, Home Ministry laid down certain norms on surrogacy as an immediate attempt to define the contours of surrogacy activities in India,

-        Home Ministry lays down conditions for grant of visa to foreign couples commissioning surrogacy in India

-        Home Ministry has already announced that it will not give tourist visas to foreigner nationals coming to India for commissioning surrogacy, of which several cases have been reported.

-        In order to ensure that the surrogate mother’s interests are protected, the Ministry said, such a visa may only be granted if certain conditions are fulfilled — the foreign man and woman must be duly married for at least two years.

-         The Ministry will also insist that the Indian embassy or Foreign Ministry of the country concerned enclose an acknowledgement, along with the visa application, that the country recognises surrogacy and that the child/children to be born to the commissioning couple through the Indian surrogate mother will be permitted entry into their country as a biological child/children of the couple.

-        Besides, the couple should produce a duly notarised agreement between the applicant couple and the prospective Indian surrogate mother. The Ministry has informed the Indian missions abroad that the commissioning couple needs to be told that they must obtain “exit” permission from the Foreign Regional Registration Offices before leaving India for their return journey.

Dr Neeraj Pahlajani

For surrogacy assistance visit our website – www.raipurivf.com

Or email – drpahlajaniraipur@gmail.com

Citizenship of Children Born through an Indian Surrogate

On September 4, the Apex Court of India took the issue of citizenship of child born in the country out of surrogacy in which biological parents are foreign nationals but birth mother is Indian. The next hearing is scheduled for the month of November. Till then, dual citizenship for surrogate children born in certain circumstances is being considered.

A few days back, series of surrogacy scandals lifted a lid on Thailand's largely unregulated commercial surrogacy industry, which is an undeniable reason behind vigilance on surrogacy activities in India.

Because India does not offer dual citizenship, the children will have to convert to Overseas Citizenship of India if they also hold non-Indian citizenship.

The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has given Guidelines regulating Assisted Reproductive Technology procedures. According to one of the seven guidelines, the foreign couple undergoing surrogacy in India would require ‘exit’ permission before their return journey from India and would need to carry a certificate from concerned ART clinic regarding the fact that child/children have been duly taken custody by the foreign couple and the liabilities toward the India surrogate mother are fully discharged as per agreement. A copy of birth certificate(s) of surrogate child/children will be retained by Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO)/Foreigners Registration Office (FRO) along with photocopies of the passport and VISA of the foreign parents.

In India, the babies born through surrogacy are born stateless. This means they are not given Indian citizenship by virtue of the fact they were born in India. Prior to starting surrogacy treatment it is essential that all intended parents consult the embassy of their country to ensure they are able to get citizenship of their country for baby, which another guideline of ICMR.

However, from years and years, India is known the best infertility treatment in India. After the year 2002, India grabbed attention of couples from round the world to undergo IVF treatment. With facilities of low cost IVF in India, egg donors in India and best infertility treatment in India, the medical tourism in India has taken new leaps. Though India has been criticised for unregulated surrogacy sector, but there are clinics like Pahlajani Surrogacy Center in Raipur that has assisted a number of couples from India as well as overseas with infertility treatment. It is known for the high success rate of IVF and surrogacy in Raipur.

To read our success stories, visit our website – www.raipurivf.com

Or email me – drpahlajaniraipur@gmail.com

Dr Neeraj Pahlajani

Surrogacy and Adoption in India

Surrogacy 

Adoption and surrogacy are the two options to bring a child into the family.

The desire for a genetic link and increasing desire of prospective parents to monitor the child's prenatal care and medical history has made surrogacy a more preferred option.

The parents wanting a child through surrogacy need to go through a few steps,

1. Locating the surrogacy clinic,
2. Screening and working with an appropriate surrogate mother,
3. Medically and psychologically examination of surrogate,
4. Establishing a legal contract, and
5. Finally transferring embryos to the surrogate's uterus and confirming the pregnancy.

Adoption

For those parents who simply yearn for a child—genetically related or not—adoption can be both a compassionate and enriching experience. In fact, many parents choose adoption precisely so that they might provide a better family life not only for themselves, but also for the adopted child whose need, after all, is apparent.

Below are the seven stages of adoption in India as defined by Central Adoption Resource Authority, Ministry of Women and Child Development,

1.  Registration
2.  Pre-adoption Counselling and Preparation of the PAP(s)
3.  Home Study and Other requirements
4.  Referral and Acceptance
5.  Pre-adoption foster care
6.  Legal Procedure
7.  Follow up visits and post-adoption services

Dr Neeraj Pahlajani

Embryo Donation and Adoption

Embryo Donation is a method of family building, which combines assisted reproductive technology with adoption, so that instead of adopting a baby, infertile couples adopt an embryo. It is a form of third party reproduction, in which couples give their embryos to another couple after successful IVF. This embryo is transferred to recipient mother’s uterus to facilitate pregnancy.

At Pahlajani Test Tube Baby Center, when we perform IVF, young women often produce many eggs. These can be stored, and we do this by freezing them in liquid nitrogen at -196 degree Celsius. If the parents get pregnant they often agree to donate their embryos to other infertile couples, to help them start families.

Therefore, when you undergo in-vitro fertilization, conceive a child and find yourself left with extra embryos, then you can donate your embryos to couples in need.  Couples often freeze their embryos in case they want to expand their family more someday. But, if they decide not to expand their families further, they can donate the remaining embryos to infertile couples.

Embryo donation can be done anonymously or on an open basis. Occasionally, a "semi-open" arrangement is used in which the parties know family and other information about each other, but their real names and locating information are withheld, in order to provide a layer of privacy protection.

Couples who want to donate embryos have two options: They can go through a fertility clinic or an agency, and the experiences are quite different. Interested recipients undergo physical and psychological screening. If it’s a match, the embryos change hands anonymously.

Embryo donation can be carried out as a service of an individual infertility clinic (where donor and recipient families typically live in the local area and are both patients of the same clinic) or by any of several national organizations. The process described below is typical of an "adoption-agency-based" national program.

Genetic parents entering an embryo adoption program are offered the benefits of selecting the adoptive parents from the agency's pool of prescreened applicants. Embryo ownership is transferred directly from the genetic parents to the adoptive parents. Genetic parents may be updated by the agency when a successful pregnancy is achieved and when a child(ren) is/are born. The genetic parents and adoptive parents may negotiate their own terms for future contact between the families.

Dr Neeraj Pahlajani