Surrogacy hub on edge after HC fiat

YADADRI: Telangana's own Tirumala -

Yadadri

-is just not a pilgrimage heart, but also the state's surrogacy hub. And walking down a non-descript bylane of the ancient temple town, a row of two 3BHK flats on

Azad Road

is home to over 85 surrogate mothers, whose clientele straddle the entire country.

TOI talks to these women who have borne the labour of love for at least nine months, but are concerned over Thursday's order of

Hyderabad High Court

, directing state health brass not to hand over babies to couples without court permission. The order followed a reference to ra ids at Kiran Infertility Centre in Hyderabad's plush Banjara Hills colony.

Yadadri's surrogate mothers say they aren't pleased with the order as taking care of the baby, even for a day after child birth is impossible -owing to monetary and social taboo in the rural heartland. They also fear developing a 'bond' with the child, if not immediately handed over to biological parents.

“We won't be able to take care of the baby after birth as we will immediately move back to our families in our villages,“ said Sunitha (name changed), a surrogate mother from Khammam.

Another surrogate mother at the centre, when asked about her client, replied without batting an eyelid that real parents hail from Guwahati, Assam.

The women said they have their own compulsions and chose this option to get respite. “I stay in a remote village in

Tanuku

and I got to know about surrogacy from a neighbour, who earlier rented out her womb. We so on realized that we can make money by carrying someone else's child,“ said Gita (name changed), another surrogate mother.

The centre too on its part said it is against their policy to let surrogates bond with the baby as this would trigger emotional problems.

“From day one, we start counseling them that they are just helping other women in need to become mothers and they are not the real mothers. They can just consider themselves an aunt, but no more,“ said Divakar M, managing director, Padmaja Fertility Centre. Speaking about the recent court judgment against the infertility centre in Banjara Hills, officials of the Telangana health and medical department said that in the given circumstances, leaving the baby with the surrogate mother is the only option.

“The ball is now in the infertility centre's court. They have to release the list of names of biological parents. Once they do that, we can map DNA of the parents and the newborn and hand over the baby to the parents with court's permission. Until the list is released, we feel the baby has to stay with surrogate for care,“ said a senior official in the health department.

He said that it is a herculean task to take care of all these babies, particularly their health and safety . The child department will also have to procure milk from banks.

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