IVF brings two-fold joy to Spanish businessman

Times of India
NEW DELHI: Juan Carlos couldn't be happier. The Spanish businessman has been blessed with two bundles of joy - son Antonio and daughter Rosio. The twins are India's New Year gift to the 41-year-old. Born to a surrogate mother, both the babies are healthy, weighing 2.7kg and 2.5kg respectively.

"Antonio has a dimple in the right cheek. Rosio looks like a queen already. I am going to shower all happiness in the world on my kids. They complete my life," he says.

Carlos says though he did not want to marry, he always wanted to be a father. "After thinking over it for several years, I opted for surrogacy. Thanks to the woman who agreed to make my wish come true and the doctors in India, today I am a proud father to not one but two children," the single father said. Carlos added that the successful childbirth comes after three failed attempts.
Dr Shivani Sachdev Gour, director, Isis Hospital, where the IVF procedure was conducted successfully, said that the cost of surrogacy in India is Rs 12-14 lakh compared to 2 million dollars (approximately) in the US.

"There has been a 60-70% increase in foreign nationals opting for surrogacy in the recent years. At present, 120 surrogate mothers associated with our clinic are pregnant and 180 deliveries are expected till August. There is a huge demand not only because of cheap facilities but the fact that Indian women are not usually into drugs and alcohol. Children born to surrogate mothers are relatively healthy," said Gour. She added that maximum patients - single men/ women, gay couple and those suffering from medical conditions that cause infertility - come from Australia, Spain, the US, and European nations.

The IVF centre, Gour said, hires surrogate mothers through an agency and the patients are brought in by companies dealing with medical tourism. "On an average, we get 10-15 requests for surrogacy in India from Spain. The demand from other countries is also very high," said Avinash Kumar, who works at a private agency. Many Indians too, who are either divorced or want to remain single, are also opting for assisted reproductive technique (ART) in which a woman carries the baby of another woman in her womb.

Indian Council of Medical Research issued guidelines in 2005 which allow surrogacy only in cases where no other possibility of reproduction exists.

Legal experts say that surrogate parents are given the status of guardians applying the adoption provision under Indian Guardianship and Wards Act 1890.