An early morning call from my sister made my day. Rinu, a 35 year old hugely successful lawyer had a wonderful life. Only last week she and her husband Rohit celebrated the first decade of their togetherness. They had all the comforts, all the luxuries in life. Regrettably though, they are childless. But not any more. “We are going to have our first baby soon”, is what Rinu informed me over the phone. She never sounded so happier, so content. I was cheerfully surprised at this news as two years ago Rinu had undergone hysterectomy (surgical removal of uterus) because of cancer. She sensed my shock and then revealed that they are going to rent a womb! “What is that suppose to mean”? “How is that possible”? “Are you sure about it?” I flooded her with my questions, my concern. Then she explained.
A substituted womb
Surrogacy is a pact between two level headed parties. It is a procedure where a female offers to lend her womb to a couple who are not bearing. This woman can be the real or the genetic mother of the child, or she might be someone having no genetic connection with the child. Surrogacy offers a hope to a childless couple who want to have their own biological child.
Need for surrogacy
Who are the people opting for this procedure? Well, it is opted by those couples in which:
- The female is infertile
- She had her uterus removed
- She had multiple miscarriages
- Fallopian tube defects
- She suffers from any other medical condition like a cardio disorder, diabetes etc.
The actual procedure
So far, I was really absorbed into what Rinu was telling me, but then I asked her about the mechanics of this procedure. Then she divulged all the details.
- Selecting a surrogate mother: This is a critical step. The female who agrees to be the surrogate mother must measure up to some basic physical and reproductive standards. She should be reproductively active, between the age of 20 and 35. She should have trouble free medical history, healthy deliveries, and no miscarriages. It should be made sure that she is free from any kind of infections, cancer or genetic abnormalities.
- Drafting a contract: After the couple has zeroed in on the surrogate mother, a contract is drafted between the two parties. An attorney doing this legal formality should make sure that all the details have been carefully and clearly mentioned. It states the terms and conditions with which both the donor and the couple have to abide by religiously. It also mentions the fee details.
- The clinical details: Surrogacy can be broadly divided into two types, full and partial.
1) Full surrogacy: Here the female offering to rent her womb has no genetic connection with the embryo. After the egg and the sperm from the couple have been fertilized, it is then transplanted in to this female, usually with the help of In-Vitro Fertilization procedure.
2) Partial surrogacy: Here the surrogate mother is also the egg donor. She is inseminated with the male sperm usually through artificial insemination procedure.
IVF: Rinu apprised me that she would be going for this procedure at a superspeciality hospital, ADIVA. Adiva offers this exclusive service to the infertile couples. They provide exhaustive counseling sessions before the procedure begins.Their trained staff makes sure that everything is taken care off, ensuring the success of the procedure.
Thankfully, we are living in an age where absolutely nothing is impossible. Motherhood is a godsend blessing but, couples who can’t bear on their own need not worry. Surrogacy is an option which they might seek and enter the divine world of parenthood.
