Her surrogacy work earned her ire at first, but today, she has put India on the world map
Her surrogacy work earned her ire at first, but today, she has put India on the world map
It was the year 1999. I had been teaching in a government medical college when my husband suggested I start
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my own clinic. I started from this modest little place, nothing fancy about it," said Dr Nayana Patel, a gynaecologist from Anand. It was this clinic in the small sleepy town of Anand that has a population of merely 1.5 lakh people that has put India on the world map of surrogacy.
"At that time I would treat infertile couples. I knew that if a woman is unable to have a baby even after many attempts of treatment, surrogacy was the only option. But at that time even I looked down upon it. Slowly I saw the desperation in couples and started thinking why not," said Dr Patel.
Though she did a couple of cases of surrogacy where family members agreed to be surrogates, it wasn't until 2003 that she did her first case of commercial surrogacy.
Her midwife's daughter was in urgent need of me and a couple was willing to pay. "She delivered successfully, then she referred two of her relatives. That's how things started. Today the situation is such I get at least two new surrogate mothers everyday. From the clinic I built a hospital and have now built hostels for surrogates, pay their kids tuitions etc."
u00a0A woman helping a woman! I love it!'u00a0-- that's how Oprah Winfrey, one of the most popular talk show hosts described Dr Nayana Patel's crusade for surrogate motherhood. But not everyone saw it that way. "There were lots of hurdles, people; NGO's would come to protests. Media tried to do sting operations on the so-called exploitation of women. I wouldn't get sleep for nights," recalled Patel.
Today, with more than 300 surrogate mothers and 156 successful deliveries, Dr Nayana Patel can be said to put India on the world map of surrogacy. No statistics exist on the number of foreign couples that head for India in their quest to obtain a child. Dr Patel, says she had six foreigners in 2007, 21 in 2008 and another 21 in 2009.
The Law Commission estimates in its 228th report released this August that the assisted reproductive technology (ART) industry in India is worth about Rs 25,000 crore. As compared to early 2000's, when barely a few centres practiced surrogacy, the industry is shaping into a more organised sector.With an array of services like recruitment agents that go around hiring and contacting possible surrogate mothers, legal consultants to draw up contracts between surrogate and hiring parents and even hostel and insurance facilities for surrogates, the industry is shaping up well.
Yet India ranks far behind countries like the United States, South Africa, Cypress, Bangkok and Thailand where sheer numbers are concerned. Also in India, the industry operates without legal sanction. The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2008, has yet to become law.
The Bill has provisions for protection of rights of surrogates (like payments in installments to ensure she is paid even in miscarriage) as well as couples (to ensure surrogate doesn't refuse to hand over baby etc).u00a0If the law comes into force, India would become the first country to have a legal sanction on 'paid' surrogacy.
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