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SOCIETY&
TRENDS: SURROGATE MOTHERS
Womb
For Rent
Women
incapable of bearing children have a new hope
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BABY
BOON: The Rajas with their twin team
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Shanthi
Raja splashes an extra measure of Dettol to wash her hands and makes her
husband M. Raja do the same. The couple go to the incubator where new-born
twins are snuggling. They take a baby each and hold them close as if to
let them hear what their heart's murmur: "Our children."
Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser
(MRKH) Syndrome is a painful one to spell. For women like Shanthi, living
with it is even more harrowing. But thanks to a surrogate mother and a
technological breakthrough at Chennai's Fertility Research Centre (FRC)
she became a mother of two on January 19.
What is MRKH?
In a female foetus, the ovaries and fallopian tubes are fully developed
at 22 weeks. Any abnormality at this stage leads to deformity or absence
of the reproductive organs, though the ovaries are present. The person
develops all secondary sexual characteristics but does not menstruate.
Dr Kamala Selvaraj, who performed the new technique, says, "About
10 per cent of women have such deformities."
FRC explored
the possibility of a new technique of using a surrogate mother for the
MRKH afflicted. Shanthi, 34, came to FRC in October 1999 and was taken
as a model case for the venture. She has no uterus and her vagina was
"constructed" or repaired. Her ovaries were stimulated with
hormones to produce more eggs. The eggs were sucked out, fertilised with
her husband's sperm and frozen.
Two months
later when a surrogate was found, the embryos were thawed and kept in
a carbon-dioxide incubator for 24 hours. Four embryos were transferred
into the surrogate's uterus. (More than two embryos are transferred for
increasing the probability of pregnancy). Tests on the 11th and 13th days
showed positive pregnancy. The elated doctors took no chances-they went
in for a caesarean section after 36 weeks. On January 19, the surrogate
delivered two baby boys. The cost incurred by the Rajas: Rs 5 lakh.
For medical
science in India it was a status elevation. "But for some institutes
in Australia and in the West, not many can claim such a feat," says
Meena Kesan, Dr Selvaraj's assistant.
The only
one kept out of the celebrations was the surrogate. Hospital staff was
given strict instructions not to reveal her identity. The nameless surrogate
lay in a room below the incubator room where the twins were kept. "I
was clearly told about the deal and I stuck to it," the frail 28-year-old
said exclusively to INDIA TODAY. "And no, I don't want to see the
babies. I was just a carrier," she added.
Dr Sharat
Battina, fertility expert at Chennai's Apollo Hospital, says, "It
will give a boost not only to women with MRKH but also to millions who
are infertile." But he adds that our laws are outdated to deal with
such a development. Chennai-based lawyer K.M. Vijayan says potential parents
should enter into a contract with the surrogate saying she has no claim
on the babies. "The contract holds good in a court as there is no
legislation opposing it."
Hailing
from a suburb of Chennai, the twins' surrogate is already a mother of
two. And she is richer by "about Rs 1 lakh" for her troubles.
Will she do it again? "Never. Never again," she claims. But
for millions of wannabe mothers in India, it's women like her who are
the hope-givers.
By Arun Ram
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