Manufacturing a Live Baby Doll.
" Got myself a crying talking, Sleeping walking Living Doll. ..." Cliff Richard.
A client from another country comes to India, gives a sample of his sperms, a medical technocrat procures an ovum/egg from an unknown donor and makes the two interact and fertilize the egg and grows it for a short period in nutritional medium and artificially transfers the fertilized egg into the uterus of an unknown willing lady. The fertilized egg takes roots and in the next few months grows into a full term fetus/baby. This baby is born per via naturalis or by Caesarian section and then person or persons who initiated this manufacturing process deliberately take over this baby doll very soon and goes back to continue his normal family life. This manufacturing process is quite contrary to what happens to most other babies born; they are born to known mother and father who have joined in wedlock and is born as a token of their love and intimacy as per norms laid down by mother nature since times immemorial. In this manufacturing process there are so many variations and permutations and combinations possible. The original client seeking a baby may contribute only money or provide both sperm and eggs or only sperms or only eggs. A large number of technocrats and facilitators are involved in the next stages and the real vital link is the lady holding the baby for full nine months. She would finally hand over the finished product to the client anonymously either merely on humanitarian consideration or for reasonable or huge monetary windfall. All these steps are part of an extremely intricate and interesting chain of events leading to the manufacture of an unique personalized product - the precious live and kicking baby doll!
What is surrogacy?
Surrogacy means using a substitute mother in place of a natural mother. The various types of surrogacy are:
Traditional Surrogacy where a lady becomes a pregnant with her own biological child, the sperm from a seeking father being naturally or artificially inseminated.
Gestational Surrogacy where an embryo is implanted into the uterus and the lady holding the baby is not the biological mother.
Altruistic Surrogacy is one where the surrogate mother is not financially rewarded for her job.
Commercial Surrogacy, where the surrogate mother is amply rewarded by the wealthy parents who were unable to procreate on their own strengths.
Links in the Chain of manufacture process:
The main links are the biological parent or parents and the surrogate mother. But to complete the entire chain resulting in a successful outcome many more links are involved as follows:
1)The Biological parent or parents whose sperm and /or eggs will be the basis for the manufactured baby. An unknown or anonymous donor sperm of egg may be used if needed.
2)The Surrogate Mother is the kingpin/queenpin in the entire concept of surrogacy. She should be ideally an experienced person having given birth to one or two of her own children.
3)Fertility specialists who have had suitable training in this highly specialized filed.
4)Obstetricians who will be looking after the pregnant mother and ensure safe delivery of the baby with safety to the mother too as in any other normal pregnancy and delivery.
5)Hospitals with availability of specialized equipment and facilities and staff. Legal consultants to ensure that the whole process of manufacture and delivery of finished product is done as per existing law and transparently.
6)Health Insurance cover whenever and wherever possible.
7)Family & friends have an important supporting role.
8)Surrogacy Agencies to act like PRO for the entire process from beginning to end.
Who is the Legal Parent of the Manufactured Baby?
The legal issues involved are too complex and no clear guidelines are available in most parts of the world. The "default" legal assumption is that the "surrogate" mother who nurtures the baby in her womb and gives birth to the baby is the legal mother. However the intending parents who may or may not have contributed partly or wholly to the genetic framework of the baby are considered the legal parents in some parts of the world. It is possible for the intending parents to obtain orders from a court before birth of the baby so that the birth certificate would show their names as parents.
Legal position in India:
Commercial surrogacy is legal in India since 2002. The Law Commission of India in its 228th report has laid down the rules of the game, though they need to refined further. Following are some of the salient features:
1)Surrogacy arrangement will continue to be governed by contract amongst parties, which will contain all the terms requiring consent of surrogate mother to bear child, agreement of her husband and other family members for the same, medical procedures of artificial insemination, reimbursement of all reasonable expenses for carrying child to full term, willingness to hand over the child born to the commissioning parent(s), etc
2)A surrogacy arrangement should provide for financial support for surrogate child in the event of death of the commissioning couple or individual before delivery of the child, or divorce between the intended parents and subsequent willingness of none to take delivery of the child.
3)A surrogacy contract should necessarily take care of life insurance cover for surrogate mother.
4)One of the intended parents should be a donor as well, because the bond of love and affection with a child primarily emanates from biological relationship.
5)Legislation itself should recognize a surrogate child to be the legitimate child of the commissioning parent(s) without there being any need for adoption or even declaration of guardian.
6)The birth certificate of the surrogate child should contain the name(s) of the commissioning parent(s) only.
7)Right to privacy of donor as well as surrogate mother should be protected.
8)Sex-selective surrogacy should be prohibited.
9)Cases of abortions should be governed by the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 only.
There is an upcoming Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill, aiming to regulate the surrogacy business and is expected to be passed in 2010.
The question of Citizenship of the Baby born out of surrogacy is also another ticklish problem not clearly defined by law.
Ethical Issues:
Mother Child relationship:
A study by the Family and Child Psychology Research Centre at City University, London in 2002 concluded that surrogate mothers had no difficulty in relinquishing rights to a surrogate child and that the intended mothers showed greater affection and love to the child than the surrogate mothers.
Unsolved issues:
There are many more legal, ethical and moral issues involved and the solutions to these are not yet clearly defined. Presently they are being tackled and solved on a case to case basis till such time as they are clearly defined. What happens if the Baby born out of surrogacy has some congenital defects and deformities? What happens if the surrogate mother or baby or both die in the course of childbirth? Will the mother be covered by Life Insurance? What is the legal, position if the intended parent refuses to accept the baby after delivery for some reason or other? How to regulate the entire process of surrogacy from start to finish without victimizing the child bearing mother or the new born child, particularly commercial exploitation of the mother?
India is perhaps the most attractive destination for anyone anywhere in the world to hire a surrogate mother to procure one's own baby. Fertility tourism is a rapidly expanding industry in India, faster than general medical tourism. But it needs to be well regulated by rules and regulations to prevent unfair practices and commercial exploitation, particularly the poor surrogate mother!
With Best Wishes to Be Healthy,
Dr. M.Mohan Rao, MBBS, MS, FICS, MCH, Formerly M.D. & Chief Surgeon, Dr. UMR Memorial Hospital. 962, Poonamallee High Road, Chennai 600084. E-mail: mmr@mohanraohospital.com
References:
1)http://adopting.adoption.com/child/surrogacy.html 2)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrogacy#Terminology
" Got myself a crying talking, Sleeping walking Living Doll. ..." Cliff Richard.
A client from another country comes to India, gives a sample of his sperms, a medical technocrat procures an ovum/egg from an unknown donor and makes the two interact and fertilize the egg and grows it for a short period in nutritional medium and artificially transfers the fertilized egg into the uterus of an unknown willing lady. The fertilized egg takes roots and in the next few months grows into a full term fetus/baby. This baby is born per via naturalis or by Caesarian section and then person or persons who initiated this manufacturing process deliberately take over this baby doll very soon and goes back to continue his normal family life. This manufacturing process is quite contrary to what happens to most other babies born; they are born to known mother and father who have joined in wedlock and is born as a token of their love and intimacy as per norms laid down by mother nature since times immemorial. In this manufacturing process there are so many variations and permutations and combinations possible. The original client seeking a baby may contribute only money or provide both sperm and eggs or only sperms or only eggs. A large number of technocrats and facilitators are involved in the next stages and the real vital link is the lady holding the baby for full nine months. She would finally hand over the finished product to the client anonymously either merely on humanitarian consideration or for reasonable or huge monetary windfall. All these steps are part of an extremely intricate and interesting chain of events leading to the manufacture of an unique personalized product - the precious live and kicking baby doll!
What is surrogacy?
Surrogacy means using a substitute mother in place of a natural mother. The various types of surrogacy are:
Traditional Surrogacy where a lady becomes a pregnant with her own biological child, the sperm from a seeking father being naturally or artificially inseminated.
Gestational Surrogacy where an embryo is implanted into the uterus and the lady holding the baby is not the biological mother.
Altruistic Surrogacy is one where the surrogate mother is not financially rewarded for her job.
Commercial Surrogacy, where the surrogate mother is amply rewarded by the wealthy parents who were unable to procreate on their own strengths.
Links in the Chain of manufacture process:
The main links are the biological parent or parents and the surrogate mother. But to complete the entire chain resulting in a successful outcome many more links are involved as follows:
1)The Biological parent or parents whose sperm and /or eggs will be the basis for the manufactured baby. An unknown or anonymous donor sperm of egg may be used if needed.
2)The Surrogate Mother is the kingpin/queenpin in the entire concept of surrogacy. She should be ideally an experienced person having given birth to one or two of her own children.
3)Fertility specialists who have had suitable training in this highly specialized filed.
4)Obstetricians who will be looking after the pregnant mother and ensure safe delivery of the baby with safety to the mother too as in any other normal pregnancy and delivery.
5)Hospitals with availability of specialized equipment and facilities and staff. Legal consultants to ensure that the whole process of manufacture and delivery of finished product is done as per existing law and transparently.
6)Health Insurance cover whenever and wherever possible.
7)Family & friends have an important supporting role.
8)Surrogacy Agencies to act like PRO for the entire process from beginning to end.
Who is the Legal Parent of the Manufactured Baby?
The legal issues involved are too complex and no clear guidelines are available in most parts of the world. The "default" legal assumption is that the "surrogate" mother who nurtures the baby in her womb and gives birth to the baby is the legal mother. However the intending parents who may or may not have contributed partly or wholly to the genetic framework of the baby are considered the legal parents in some parts of the world. It is possible for the intending parents to obtain orders from a court before birth of the baby so that the birth certificate would show their names as parents.
Legal position in India:
Commercial surrogacy is legal in India since 2002. The Law Commission of India in its 228th report has laid down the rules of the game, though they need to refined further. Following are some of the salient features:
1)Surrogacy arrangement will continue to be governed by contract amongst parties, which will contain all the terms requiring consent of surrogate mother to bear child, agreement of her husband and other family members for the same, medical procedures of artificial insemination, reimbursement of all reasonable expenses for carrying child to full term, willingness to hand over the child born to the commissioning parent(s), etc
2)A surrogacy arrangement should provide for financial support for surrogate child in the event of death of the commissioning couple or individual before delivery of the child, or divorce between the intended parents and subsequent willingness of none to take delivery of the child.
3)A surrogacy contract should necessarily take care of life insurance cover for surrogate mother.
4)One of the intended parents should be a donor as well, because the bond of love and affection with a child primarily emanates from biological relationship.
5)Legislation itself should recognize a surrogate child to be the legitimate child of the commissioning parent(s) without there being any need for adoption or even declaration of guardian.
6)The birth certificate of the surrogate child should contain the name(s) of the commissioning parent(s) only.
7)Right to privacy of donor as well as surrogate mother should be protected.
8)Sex-selective surrogacy should be prohibited.
9)Cases of abortions should be governed by the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 only.
There is an upcoming Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill, aiming to regulate the surrogacy business and is expected to be passed in 2010.
The question of Citizenship of the Baby born out of surrogacy is also another ticklish problem not clearly defined by law.
Ethical Issues:
Mother Child relationship:
A study by the Family and Child Psychology Research Centre at City University, London in 2002 concluded that surrogate mothers had no difficulty in relinquishing rights to a surrogate child and that the intended mothers showed greater affection and love to the child than the surrogate mothers.
Unsolved issues:
There are many more legal, ethical and moral issues involved and the solutions to these are not yet clearly defined. Presently they are being tackled and solved on a case to case basis till such time as they are clearly defined. What happens if the Baby born out of surrogacy has some congenital defects and deformities? What happens if the surrogate mother or baby or both die in the course of childbirth? Will the mother be covered by Life Insurance? What is the legal, position if the intended parent refuses to accept the baby after delivery for some reason or other? How to regulate the entire process of surrogacy from start to finish without victimizing the child bearing mother or the new born child, particularly commercial exploitation of the mother?
India is perhaps the most attractive destination for anyone anywhere in the world to hire a surrogate mother to procure one's own baby. Fertility tourism is a rapidly expanding industry in India, faster than general medical tourism. But it needs to be well regulated by rules and regulations to prevent unfair practices and commercial exploitation, particularly the poor surrogate mother!
With Best Wishes to Be Healthy,
Dr. M.Mohan Rao, MBBS, MS, FICS, MCH, Formerly M.D. & Chief Surgeon, Dr. UMR Memorial Hospital. 962, Poonamallee High Road, Chennai 600084. E-mail: mmr@mohanraohospital.com
References:
1)http://adopting.adoption.com/child/surrogacy.html 2)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrogacy#Terminology
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