Foreign nationals must consult consulates before surrogacy

Mumbai, Jul 15 (PTI) Eight European countries have asked
In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) clinics in this city not to offer
surrogacy-assisted treatment to their nationals without
keeping their consulates in the loop, apparently keeping
tricky citizenship issues in mind.
The fertility clinics today welcomed the move by the
consul generals of the eight countries afer they were notified
to direct the foreign nationals to the consulates before
starting the treatment.
A surrogate is a woman who bears a child for another
person or couple, often for pay, either through artificial
insemination or by carrying until birth. The surrogacy market
in India is estimated to be between Rs 1,000 and 5,000 crore.
The consul generals of Germany, France, Poland, Czech
Republic, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium and Spain have notified
more than ten IVF centres in Mumbai not to offer surrogacy
treatment to nationals of their countries," a doctor at one of
the centres said.
The consulates have alerted that surrogacy contracts
were illegal in their countries.
"This awareness is important for all of us who are
practising and come in touch with foreign nationals," Dr
Anjali Malpani, an infertility specialist, said.
Most of the clinics that have received letters from
consulates welcomed the step taken by the European offices in
India as several ethical issues regarding surrogacy still
remain to be clarified, she told PTI.
The move by the European countries came even as a
medico-legal expert on surrogacy Amit Kharkhanis said there
is an urgent need to have a concrete law for surrogacy in
India and the Centre has to take up the issue on a warfooting.
"We have guidelines of the ICMR of 2005 which were
updated in 2008," he told PTI.
"India should not allow IVF as an industry for
producing designer babies and therefore there is an urgent
need for regulations which should be brought through a law,"
Kharkhanis said.
Malpani said that most of the good fertility clinics
already take precautions keeping in mind the problems that the
new born could face in their respective countries and doctors
should be made aware of these facts, she said.
Malpani also said, "it was good that they (consulates)
wrote to us to direct their nationals in case of any surrogacy
request and we understand that it is purely in the interest of
the future of the babies."
Many of the small clinics, which rampantly suggest for
surrogacy, may not even know about many countries where
surrogacy is illegal, she said.
Malpani said that "even in countries like US,
surrogacy is legal but few federal states do not allow
commercial surrogacy."
The doctors also said there are countries in the world
where the country per se may allow but each federal state will
have different rules which the Indian specialists may not come
to know.
The IVF specialists said that they follow ICMR
guidelines which allow surrogacy.
"Therefore, the letter from these European countries
are very significant for our future," doctors from Lilavati
and Hiranandani hospitals who deal with lot of foreign
nationals in their IVF clinics said.
Malpani reiterated that these letters are eye-openers
for small and big IVF clinics and also for the foreigners who
seek surrogacy. PTI