Surrogacy not so taboo anymore

HYDERABAD: Ask any couple their deepest desire, and the answer is sure to sound clichéd but true - a wish to cradle the tiny body of their first child, within the warmth of their arms. And as technology today enables childless couples to realise this dream through a number of invasive and non-invasive procedures, nature’s own alternate remedy- that of surrogacy- remained a topic so taboo, even wishful thinking of it was all but done beneath hush-hush tones. All that though, is going in for a toss.

Fertility clinics in the city today are flooded with enquiries by childless couples wanting to have atleast one of their bloodline carried forward by way of a child. And as surrogacy remains the safest option for the same, better awareness and understanding of how to handle oneself in society during the nine months of surrogacy have only helped promote the cause further.

“Every parent who visits us does so with the sole wish of having their own child. Today, even the relatives of the couple partake in the whole exercise, providing support in every possible manner”, said a specialist at Dr Anu’s Fertility Centre.

“The levels of taboo associated with the whole process of surrogacy has definitely come down. Many couples come and understand the process better so they can keep their options open for the future, in case other techniques do not help,” he explained.

Most of the surrogate mothers come from other parts of the state, such as Warangal and Vijayawada, and according to the doctor, “the number of women from Hyderabad who come forward for the cause are not many.”

These women register with the clinic or any NGO working towards the same, and are called for once a childless couple approaches the clinic. “We inform these women who then finalise the payment and other conditions with the couple. The hospital only keeps a record of the couple and the child. All other legal formalities need to be handled separately”, said Dr Manohar of Sridevi Fertility Centre. Since the surrogate mother has every right to quote her own price, clinics deem it only right that the couples negotiate such formalities with the woman who’s volunteered for the cause themselves.

A majority of the childless couples who descend on Hyderabad for the surrogate process hail from the border districts in Karnataka and according to a doctor, who performs atleast 10 such deliveries every two months, “the number of foreign couples is few and random. They constitute a mere 5% of the total cases.”