Infertility is a social problem in our country. Women who are childless have to face many social taboos besides being the target of harassment by their families. This, of course, is seen not only amongst the illiterate and economically down-trodden, but also in the most affluent families. Why else would a woman subject herself to years and years of unending investigations and treatments just to bear a child? Why would she just not adopt a child to satisfy her maternal instinct? Inability to conceive makes a woman feel that she who is to be blamed, even though we know that the husband is equally responsible in 50% of the cases! The desire to produce a child is so immense, that women subject themselves to every kind of therapy, draining them physically, mentally, emotionally and financially.

Surrogacy is the latest addition to the battery of treatments available to our infertile couples today.  Whenever a woman has a problem of either a non-functional uterus or absent uterus (since birth or following hysterectomy) she can now opt for surrogacy. So, even though a woman has reached the age of 40 years and is without a uterus, she can still have her own biological baby implanted in a surrogate. A surrogate is a young woman who carries another couple’s baby within her uterus, delivers the baby, and hands it over to them. Of course, it is not as simple as it sounds. It involves a highly skilled and technical process of aspirating the biological mother’s eggs from her ovaries, fertilizing them with the biological father’s sperm creating an embryo within a very specialized lab, and transferring the embryo into the artificially prepared lining of the uterus of the surrogate.

The pregnant surrogate goes through the pregnancy with all the support, nutrition, vitamins, and her needs are well looked after the biological couple along with their gynecologist. The surrogate goes through the inconvenience of a nine months pregnancy and maybe its complications and also suffers the pangs of labor.  Once the baby, is born the surrogates responsibility is over and the biological mother takes over. A lot of legal issues are involved. Hence a contract is signed between the two sets of parents prior to the initiation of treatment.

Fortunately in India, surrogates are available easily. Within a family, a woman is always willing to oblige her sister, her sister-in-law and her near and dear ones, also known as altruistic surrogacy. But outside of families too, surrogates are available for a price, known as commercial surrogacy. Besides earning money, the surrogates have a feeling of satisfaction that they have been able to assist another of their fraternity to become a mother. This combination of low socio-economic status with a value added ‘noble gesture” has made surrogacy very popular in India. For a woman who opts to become a surrogate, it gives her a sudden boost financially which she would not dream of for years together! It gives her a certain status in her family, because now she is bringing in an income. It brings a smile on everyone’s faces, the biological parents, the surrogate and the doctors! However, the Surrogacy Bill (2019) passed in the Lok Sabha seeks to ban commercial surrogacy in India, but allows altruistic surrogacy. The Bill is yet to be enacted by the Parliament.

Couples who benefit from surrogacy are women who are born with an absent uterus, or who have lost their uterus due to surgery where the uterus could not be saved. Women who have repeated miscarriages or who have undergone repeated IVF failures also opt for surrogacy. Similarly, women who are medically not allowed to get pregnant, or who have a severe cardiac problem or severe kidney disease, also benefit from surrogacy

The science of human reproduction has progressed at a pace which is unimaginable! The health sector in India has kept abreast of all these advances and is able to offer the best health services which are available anywhere in the world. Assisted Reproduction Technology (ART) has truly revolutionized the concept of having a baby. The success of an infertility clinic truly lies in the art of ART!

With over 3 decades of experience, we at Gynaecworld completely understand a woman’s world and are here to look after the medical hurdles that come your way. You are the center of all our efforts!!!

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