Woman, 30, born without a WOMB is refused NHS funding for IVF 'because she would need a surrogate to carry her baby'

• Nicola Rickards was born without a womb due to a congenital condition
• Was told by her consultant she was the ideal candidate for IVF funding
• The local CCG has turned her down as she would need a surrogate
• She is heartbroken her lack of womb doesn't make her an exceptional case

A woman has been denied the chance to become a mother after being told the NHS will not fund her IVF, despite the fact she was born with no womb.

Nicola Rickards, 30, is desperate to start a family with her partner, 33-year-old Matthew Cornock, an assistant site manager.

But she was was born with Mayer Rokitansky Kuster Hauser syndrome, a condition that means she has no womb or cervix, but does have ovaries.

Miss Rickards said her consultant told her the condition makes the couple  'ideal candidates' for funding for IVF.

But, because the couple would need a surrogate to help them realise their dream of parenthood, they have been denied funding for the fertility treatment by their local clinical commissioning group (CCG).

Miss Rickards, of Gloucester, says she is heartbroken that her lack of womb doesn't make hers an exceptional case.

She said: 'I understand they only have a finite amount of money, but to be told we aren't deemed an exceptional case was heartbreaking.

'I've appealed three times, but got nowhere. I've even been to the NHS headquarters to meet with some of the most high up bosses.

'Several members of the panel teared up while I was telling my story, but I was still denied funding.

'I didn't choose this, I was born with it. It feels as if I'm being punished for something I can't help.'

The cause of Miss Rickards' Mayer Rokitansky Kuster Hauser syndrome (MRKH), remains a mystery.

The condition, which is also associated with kidney, bone and hearing difficulties, means she does not have a womb, but still has ovaries and fallopian tubes.

She was diagnosed after she turned 19 and still had not started her period.

The diagnosis was made via an ultrasound and a keyhole laparoscopy - a procedure where a camera is put inside of the abdomen and pelvis through a small incision.

'I didn't think much about what the future implications would be at first. I was a teenager and kids were the furthest thing from my mind,' said Miss Rickards.

'But, as I got older, the reality set in. With MRKH, I haven't experienced much in the way of physical day-to-day affects.

'The psychological affects have been horrendous, though. I've recently started having bereavement counselling, because it almost feels like a loss.'

Miss Rickards, a mental health nurse, and Mr Cornock first applied for IVF funding in April this year, after being told by their consultant that they were 'ideal candidates'.

They were devastated when their local CCG rejected their application.

The couple appealed three times, but were repeatedly told the same thing – they would not be granted funding because their case was 'tagged with surrogacy'.

According to their commissioning policy list, Gloucestershire CCG, who dealt with the case, do not currently support or fund surrogacy or any related treatments, including fertility treatment, to those with surrogacy arrangements.

'We feel discriminated against. If I could carry my own child, I would, but that just isn't an option,' said Miss Rickards.

Finding themselves out of options for pursuing NHS funding, the couple have instead set up a GoFundMe page, in the hope that they can raise enough to pay for the treatment themselves.

They have currently raised around £800 of their £2,500 target.

Each cycle of IVF will cost them £3,000, as well as expenses to their surrogate, once they find one.

Miss Rickards is speaking out to raise awareness of MRKH, and hopes her story will provide comfort to others who are struggling to start a family.
'There's always been a stigma around infertility,' she said.

'People need to speak out more and be more open. That way, it'll become less of a taboo and those going through it will realise that they aren't alone.'

A spokeswoman from NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said the organisation does not support fertility treatments directly associated with surrogacy arrangements.

She said: 'We are sorry that the individual concerned is unhappy with the outcome.

'There is a process that allows individual funding requests to be considered, and this takes into account both the current clinical evidence available and individual circumstances.

'The CCG's policies take into account NICE guidance (which does not support surrogacy) and evidence of clinical and cost effectiveness.

'The CCG does not fund experimental treatments such as womb transplants, surrogacy or any assisted conception treatment associated with it.'

Sources: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3230758/Woman-30-born-without-WOMB-refused-NHS-funding-IVF-need-surrogate-carry-baby.html

Ipswich mum gives gay couple the chance to be parents through surrogacy

Redbank  Plains mum Tegan White is carrying the child of a gay couple and helping to complete their much wanted family.

The 29-year-old met Jason and Chris Lilwall via an ­online site and established a connection after meeting face-to-face.

“I’ve had a failed journey (with surrogacy) before but wanted to try it again,” Ms White said.

The mother of three children herself offered to be the couple’s surrogate after her close friend had difficulties falling pregnant.

Diagnosed with cancer in 2010, Ms White fell pregnant with her son after finishing treatment.

Ms White was carrying twins for the Lilwalls but lost one baby at nine weeks. She is due to give birth in January.

She said her surrogacy journey helped through Brisbane’s Life Fertility clinic was a great way to help those who did not have the power to bear children themselves.

Jason, 43, and Chris, 37, have been married for 10 years after having a ceremony in New Zealand. The couple have one child, Jake, also born via a surrogate.

“This is the second time down this road for us with a different surrogate. We keep in contact with everyone ­involved with the process ­including the egg donor who helped us have Jake,” Jason said.

Jason said his immediate family turned their back on him when he told them of his sexuality.

“What matters now is that I have a family who loves me unconditionally,” he said.

According to non-profit organisation Surrogacy Australia, same-sex Queensland couples desiring to have a family are on the rise.

President Robert Reith said surrogacy was a hot topic in Queensland due to many factors including the strong desire to parent among many who cannot carry a child themselves.

Mr Reith said there were currently no government statistics indicating the number of surrogacy births in Queensland.

“But based on our own research, we believe there were about 20 births using a surrogate in 2012 across Australia,” he said.

“This compares to about 500 Intending Parents (IP’s) going overseas. We believe there were about 300 children born using an overseas surrogate in 2012, and we expect this number has increased substantially since.”

According to the Queensland Government website and Surrogacy Law Act 2010, in Queensland, any person, regardless of their relationship status, can enter into a non-commercial surrogacy arrangement.

Sources: http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/southwest/ipswich-mum-gives-gay-couple-the-chance-to-be-parents-through-surrogacy/story-fni9r1nj-1227522664367

Mother becomes surrogate for daughter

After North Dakota couple Mandy and Jamie Stephens endured the loss of an infant son, they considered turning to a surrogate for help.

It turned out that Mandy’s mother was the best candidate.

“You know, pregnancy was so easy. I like being pregnant,” Sherri Dickson said. “I don’t mind being pregnant. If It was something I could do for her, why not.”

Carrying Baby Myla had another benefit for Sherri, who has multiple sclerosis.

“I didn’t be a surrogate to put my MS into remission,” she said. “I, actually, that was an afterthought that it did that.”

Baby Myla was born July 31.

Watch the video for more information with the attached link.

Sources: http://fox17online.com/2015/09/07/mother-becomes-surrogate-for-daughter/

Womb on rent

Sep 8, 2015- Surrogacy is a process through which people who want babies pay other women to deliver their child. There are two methods to do so: traditional and gestational. In the traditional method, the sperm is artificially inseminated in the surrogate mother’s womb who goes on to deliver baby on behalf of the couple. In the second, relatively advanced gestational method, the sperm and the egg from a father and mother is first fertilised through in-vitro fertilisation and the embryo is then placed inside the surrogate mother’s womb.

Benefits and hazards
While surrogacy is a boon for infertile couples, it could pose many social and medical risks to the surrogate mothers. Along with the social stigma attached to it, surrogate mothers face many health risks induced by pregnancy such as pregnancy-induced hypertension, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia/eclampsia, anemia, thromboembolic diseases, postpartum depression and psychosis. To use one’s body as a vessel to carry someone else’s child is not simply physically torturous but also an emotionally draining process. Thereby, many countries in the world have either banned surrogacy, strictly regulate it or have made it very expensive.

Surrogacy also raises many cultural, social, economic and political questions. To begin with, surrogate mothers have been found to be merely treated as baby-producing machines in many cases. The baby is the product and until the product is delivered, the surrogates are either cared for or claimed to be taken care of. Once the baby is born, the surrogate mothers are simply forgotten about. So in the absence of properly defined laws, there is a real danger that surrogacies could encourage women trafickking. Such women might simply be forced to undergo the process for money.

Surrogacy in Nepal
The issue of surrogacy in Nepal first came to the fore in March 2011 after a case was filed at the Kathmandu District Court over the property rights of a baby born through a surrogate mother. The court ruled that the child is equally entitled to inherit parental property. Of late, the issue is back into limelight as the country has turned into a hub for surrogacy in the absence of rules and weak regulatory mechanisms. In particular, after India tightened its rules on commercial surrogacy, foreigners seeking such services have started trickling into Nepal.

Last year, the Cabinet made a decision to allow surrogacy in Nepal with the intention of promoting medical tourism in the country. The decision allowed foreigners to have surrogate babies as long as the surrogate mother was also a foreigner. But in recent times, many cases of Nepali surrogate mothers have  surfaced. To make matters worse, these women have been found to be exploited by unscrupulous middle-men and their male relatives to carry and deliver babies for foreigners.

Need for a law
The absence of laws to regulate surrogacy services in Nepal makes matters worse. But as the Supreme Court recently issued an interim order to close down surrogacy services in the country until the government brings in laws to oversee it, not all is lost for surrogate mothers. The government should use this as an opportunity to formulate a law which addresses the concerns of the surrogate mothers instead of merely treating them as ‘income generators’. The law should provide them will with all the required medical facilities and ensure that surrogacy is not run like a business.

The law should ensure that surrogate mothers are treated humanely and that they are not exploited. Furthermore, it must introduce provisions that do not allow parents to discard the baby after the surrogate mother delivers it.

The new law should create a government agency to regulate assisted reproductive technology clinics and ensure that they meet certain standard of cleanliness and medical expertise and abide by a code of ethics. Clinics should be required to provide services such as counseling to the parents and the surrogates. The clinics and hospitals should maintain detailed records of both the parties. The surrogates’ compensation should be standardised; the medicines and food should be made available to them free of cost and that their emotional and psychological needs should be addressed. In conclusion, the process of using a fertile woman’s body to bear somebody else’s child has to be done in a legal and humane manner. The government must realise that commercial surrogacy could develop into a heartless, inhuman business if is not regulated properly. It should act fast and bring in the required law before this currently illegal business turns into a hideous crime that exploits women.

Sources: http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2015-09-08/womb-on-rent.html

Single surrogate fathers ‘cannot be recognised’

President of the Family Division Sir James Munby has ruled that the High Court cannot recognise surrogate children of single parents.

In a recently published judgment, Sir James denied a parental order for the biological child of a British single father. The child, ‘Z’, was born to a surrogate mother in the Midwestern US state of Minnesota.

An American court subsequently ruled that the father was Z’s only parent and it relieved the surrogate of “any legal rights or responsibilities” for the child. The father then brought Z to England and has cared for him since.

English surrogacy law states that the woman who gave birth to Z is legally his mother. He applied to the High Court for a parental order which would name him the child’s sole parent and allow him to get Z a British birth certificate. His application was supported by Z’s court-appointed, whose job was to represent the child’s best interests, and the American surrogate.

However, section 54 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 clearly states that applications for a parental order can only be made by “two people”. Such couples must be married, in a civil partnership or “living as partners in an enduring family relationship”.

Despite the father’s support, Sir James Munby ruled that the law was very clear. He declared that the father was not eligible to apply for a parental order under the current laws.

Sources: http://www.marilynstowe.co.uk/2015/09/07/single-surrogate-fathers-cannot-be-recognised/

Kolkata doctors shoot film to bust surrogacy myths

These five doctors were friends at the Calcutta Medical College who bonded not only through class lectures and practicals in the anatomy laboratory, but also on stage professionally. But now, they have decided to graduate beyond the stage on to the silver screen. This time they have come together to film a story that revolves around surrogacy. Shunyo E Kol, awaits the censor board nod and will immediately release thereafter.

These doctors are regular faces at Matiya Natyam - a theatre group that originated as an in-house initiative of Calcutta Medical College boys and girls many years ago but has now moved beyond the College Street boundaries to theatre houses in the city. They will be staging the much awaited Ekalavya this week, which after the success of their earlier plays, Ekaki Manush and Ei To Jibon, both staged at the Academy of Fine Arts and Madhusudan Mancha, has been able to generate a lot of interest.

In the film the doctors have tried to highlight a trend that they felt was gradually becoming a part of the health reality of women in the city. In the course of their professional lives, each of them has come across patients, colleagues, friends and relatives who have gone for assisted conception and surrogacy for want of a child. "So we decided to weave all these experiences into a story that will capture the different sides to surrogacy. While on the one hand there are those patients who are unable to conceive or carry the foetus due to medical conditions, there are others who cannot take time off for pregnancy because of the pressure of their profession, but yet crave a child. Both categories are opting for surrogate mothers to carry the foetus born from the egg and sperm of the two biological partners," explained Rajesh Das, a doctor in the team.

The doctors have collated their real life experiences to coin a single story that has been written by Bhaswati Roy, who teaches history at Surendranath College and is also a writer of Bengali fiction. "Right from how speciality clinics have a panel of healthy surrogate mothers to choose from, to the charges and contracts involved, the emotional issues of separation with the foetus and finally whether a child that an otherwise professionally busy woman gets through surrogacy, is ultimately cared for," explained Chiranjit Bal, a doctor at the Calcutta Medical College. The other doctors in the team are, Suddhasatwa Chatterjee of Apollo, Soma Dutta a gynaec at the Baharampur Medical College and Saswata Banerjee of Nestle India.

Among the real life women whose lives have inspired the film is a freelance anesthetist, Sangita Banerjee (name changed) who is attached to several leading doctors in the city and earns approximately Rs 20,000 a day (Rs 4000 per case she attends to and she takes at least five to six cases a day). "If I take six months off for the pre and post natal care, my clients will get attached to other anesthetists because operations have to go on. I will never be able to get back where I belong, simply because I am a freelance. So I opted for a surrogate mother, though it is an expensive proposition," Banerjee said.

Pritha Sarkhel (name changed), a 24 year old mother of a three year old boy from Choto Jagulia in Barasat, has been empanelled with a clinic on Theatre Road for surrogacy. "The society treats us as prostitutes. As women who lend wombs to carry other men's babies, but since the money is good, I have opted for it through an agent," she said.

Gynaecologist Gautam Khastagir agrees. "Though I tend to differ with doctors about whether surrogacy is such an urgent option, I do believe that surrogate mothers deserve a respectable status than what the society is prepared to give them. Films like these will help to spread awareness at different levels," he said. Filmmaker Anindita Sarbadhicari who created history by opting to choose a partner later but go for pregnancy and motherhood using assisted conception finds the idea extremely interesting. "I am glad that these doctors have decided to make this film! Every bit of information helps to remove the cobwebs of doubts in the collective psyche of a city that still dithers when it comes to IVF and surrogacy!"

Sources: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Kolkata-doctors-shoot-film-to-bust-surrogacy-myths/articleshow/48850258.cms

A mix of hits and misses

An unexpected end makes you wonder if what Syal has written isn’t really a cautionary tale about inter-racial surrogacy and late parenthood

Meera Syal’s new book has been a long time coming. After all, it’s been 16 years since her last, Life Isn’t All Ha Ha Hee Hee, was published, and almost two decades since her first, Anita & Me, hit the stores. In all this time, Syal’s style has evolved, and the way she approaches the plot in The House of Hidden Mothers is different, more subtle and surefooted in its touch. At the same time, Syal has managed to maintain the sheer ease of her work, and the way it invites you to plunge headfirst into the story that seems almost deceptively simple.

The House of Hidden Mothers continues in a similar vein, with a plot that, as it unravels, is anything but simple. At its heart lies the complicated and delicate web spun with themes of inter-racial surrogacy, aging, parenthood, and family. It is expansive and incredibly ambitious in its scope, and with every layer you peel off, and every page you turn, Syal opens doors that lead to more questions, and sometimes, to a few answers.

The book starts with a veneer of shiny, charming cynicism, the kind that hides something deeper just under it. British-Indian Shyama visits her Harley Street specialist, and we first see the book’s world through her eyes. In her late forties, Shyama, unsettled by her aging body, deals with the world in a kind of half-funny, half-angry way. Shyama is a fighter. Even before we learn that she can’t have the baby she so desperately wants, even before we are told of the philandering ex-husband, and much before the action in the book has really started, Syal, simply though this solo visit to a Harley street doctor, paints the picture of a resilient woman, vulnerable in a way that refuses to lead to helplessness.

And across the globe, Syal introduces us to another woman, another fighter. In rural India, Mala fights a quieter battle, one that is littered with compromises and silences, hope and ambition. She’s resourceful, hungry for information of a world she wants but cannot have. That she can become a surrogate mother is both a frightening and promising news for her, but reaches her through the many filtered route of neighbours, friends and her husband. It immediately becomes an escape she doesn’t quite understand the price of. Within the first few chapters of the book, Syal sets the plot. Now we can only wait for Shyama and Mala’s world to come together.

It is the book’s foundation, this initial setting of stage, that is its real strength. It provides the plot with an unshakeable foundation, so that even when you aren’t really convinced, it holds you flagging interest. Syal’s created complicated, beautifully contradictory characters — in Shyama’s 19-year-old daughter from her first marriage; in the much younger Toby, Shyama’s lover and partner; in her friends Priya and Lydia, who could have easily become caricatures, but instead carry their own weight.

Syal examines the question of surrogacy in a way that allows from several points and counterpoints. Supplementing fiction with reality, Syal explores the very nature of commercial surrogacy in India today, peppering the dialogues about it with real cases and examples to illustrate legal, moral and medical points.

What also shines, in The House of Hidden Mothers, is the subplot that involves the property struggle Shyama’s aged parents, Prem and Sita, face in India. Long after the book is over, the tenderness that these gentle, kind people evoke lingers. In them, Syal has created her most empathetic characters, and watching them hurtle towards difficult legal battles and inevitable heartaches, there is a kind of helplessness one feels.

The book, in its entirety, is a curious mix of several hits and misses. It is immensely readable, and Syal’s language creates a world that is dramatic, but not overly so. Her characters are satisfyingly fleshed out, and to a certain extent, so is her plot. A substantial part of this book is set in India, and Syal shows that she can handle the descriptions of this contradictory, complex new India well. She writes of it without breathtaking awe or kindly superiority. Instead, Syal keeps things almost starkly real, so that the setting plays as the perfect score, neither too overwhelming nor invisible.

So, it is really the resolution of the book that irks, like a loose thread on an otherwise smooth cloth, the one that you shouldn’t pull on, in case the entire thing unravels.

Towards the end, Syal’s characters, and the plot, careen towards an unexpected, and also unlikely end, one that is probably not but does feel hurried. Their actions raise more questions — on biological identities, fatherhood, love and belonging — the kind of questions that are unsettling, and which are too huge, too complex, to deal with in the last remaining pages. What is otherwise a satisfying read, therefore, ends on a confused, almost uncertain note, and you wonder if what Syal has written isn’t really a cautionary tale about inter-racial surrogacy and late parenthood.

Sources: http://www.thehindu.com/books/literary-review/swati-daftuar-reviews-the-house-of-hidden-mothers/article7619147.ece

Merton woman serves as surrogate mother, births twins — twice

For 36-year-old Andrea Ashby, motherhood came easily and naturally.

She remembers as a young child crafting cribs out of shoe boxes for her dolls and being an eager babysitter for a younger sister born 12 years her junior. When she fell in love with her husband, who had a 1-year-old son, the picture of her own family started to form. In addition to her stepson, Andrea and her husband added two more sons and a daughter to create their family.

And then they were done.

Sort of.

After much thought, discussion and research, the town of Merton resident helped a couple in Florida to realize their own dreams of having a family.

She became a surrogate.

Despite the odds, which were overwhelmingly against such a bounty of fortune, Ashby delivered her first set of twins for the family in September 2012.

In February this year, she delivered a second set of twins for the same family.

Coming to the decision
"After our daughter was born, I was good with not having any more kids," Ashby said. "We just thought we have four, they're good — they're happy and healthy, and we're going to stop here."

But when her youngest was about 4, she began to experience some pangs.

"I had this feeling, not that I wanted to have more kids, but that I missed being pregnant and going through the whole thing," she explained.

Ashby thought it was a phase that would eventually pass, but a year later she found herself in the same state of mind.

At that time, she said, a relative unable to have children went through the adoption process, which triggered some thoughts. "I started doing some research and getting in touch with people who have been on both sides of it (surrogacy issue), hearing stories about people who so badly wanted to have a family. That was something I took for granted because it came so easily to me," she said.

Hearing stories from people who could not have children was "heartbreaking," Ashby said. "I talked to my husband and at first he was like 'are you crazy?'" But he quickly came to support the idea, she added.

"He was the one who did most of the research for me. He found the agency we actually signed up with (Center for Surrogate Parenting). It is in California and is a very, very supportive group agency. Every three months we would go to Minnesota for a group meeting. I got to go to a group meeting before I ever even agreed to be a surrogate. You get to talk to all the other women; you get to hear all the aspects of every stage of the process. It was really what sold me on this. Everyone was so open and honest and the support through the group was just fantastic," she said.

After the meeting, the couple signed up and agreed to start the matching process, which took about a year.

"I had a choice of which couple I wanted to pick from. That was honestly one of the hardest decisions I had to make. I think they sent me three or four profiles, and I had to read them all and decide which one I wanted to work with," she said. Ashby said the most difficult part was not in choosing which family, but in the fact she could not help them all.

She and her husband each read the profiles and both chose the same family.

Emotional component
The couple attended another meeting and then met with the prospective parents and a psychological counselor in Milwaukee.

"Every couple and every surrogate has a counselor or a psychological coordinator. They cover everything — things as serious as what if you have a baby diagnosed with a horrible mental or physical disability before they were born. You have to talk about terminating pregnancies, or what if you only wanted one and there were two. It was a pretty heavy meeting," Ashby said.

After the counselor left, the Merton couple spent the day with the prospective parents and brought them back to their home to meet their family. The couple bonded even further as they prepared to enter the next phase of the process, six months that included doctor appointments, counseling and scheduling.

Physical component
The first embryo transfer took place in January 2012, using donor eggs.

"It is not painful at all. It was very fast; I expected it was a whole big to-do. I showed up at 8 a.m., and it was done by 8:20 a.m. They made me lay there for another hour and then told me to go sit at the hotel for two days. But with that transfer, they transferred two embryos and both of them stuck.

"In September of 2012, at 38 weeks, they had two almost 7-pound baby girls," Ashby said.

The doctor had cautioned that by transferring the two embryos, there was only a 30-percent chance that even one of them would take.

"Everything went perfectly, to be honest with you," she added. "They really wanted twins."

Ashby said they bonded so well with the couple that they later agreed to proceed with a second surrogacy.

And, like the first, they again beat the odds, and Ashby was once more carrying twins.

The second set of twins, a boy and girl, this time, were born in February 2015, this time by C-section.

"This one was a little different because we found out pretty early on that she (baby girl) had a pretty serious heart defect. She was actually here for nine weeks after she was born and had to have two or three procedures in those nine weeks," Ashby reported.

Leaving the hospital
Ashby said she was well-prepared, both times, to hand the babies over to the parents.

"It was not difficult at all. I went into it with the state of mind that this is something I wanted to do, and it was for these people. What I was doing was greater than any attachment I would have had, or any feelings I would have had. I think mentally you are so prepared that I just kind of did detach myself. I was very careful, but it was more like a job, and I was trying to do the best job I possibly could. It was all mental.

"They weren't mine," she explained.

Ashby said she did not face any negative feedback from family, friends or co-workers about the surrogacy.

"If anything, I got the opposite response. At some point, I thought if people ask, I'm going to have to tell them. I was selective in the conversations that were taking place. I was not going around announcing it, but if it came up and people asked questions, I was going to tell them. A couple of women at work started crying, saying 'that's the most beautiful thing I ever heard,'" she said.

That is not to say she wasn't concerned.

"I have heard from women in the group whose kids in school get ridiculed, or things like that. I was a little worried about that; I'm not going to lie. I told my kids early on, and I think it helped that they met the parents. They just got it. Even their friends' parents were very supportive," she said.

Reward
According to the website of the surrogacy agency Ashby went through, CPS, payment for a surrogate mother can be up to $55,000. Additional compensation is paid from the intended parents' trust account.

"The agency has a compensation schedule that allows for monthly payments, and you are compensated up to a certain amount. If you carry multiples, it's more, and if you actually give birth to multiples, they allow for another allowance on top of that," Ashby said.

"I thought it was generous enough," Ashby said.

But for Ashby, the reward of helping a couple become a family was greater than the financial compensation.

She remains in touch with the people she helped make parents, including visiting with the family in their Florida home.

"Honestly, it was to coolest thing being down there and seeing them as a family," Ashby shared.

Her husband, Jamison, agreed.

"I see it as her way of giving back. We have been blessed with four beautiful children and seeing as we decided to not have any more, this is her way of still being able to continue to have the experience of childbirth and help other families experience the joy of raising them. I have backed her up 100 percent in this and will again if she decides to do it further," he said.

The agency they used, however, caps the number of pregnancies at five. With three of her own biological children and the two surrogate pregnancies, Ashby is at that ceiling.

She considered what advice she would give others considering becoming a surrogate.

"I will honestly say it is not for everybody. There are a lot of horrible things that can happen, and you really need a good support system. It's a pretty big undertaking and it can take up more than a year of your life.

"It was probably the most rewarding thing that I have ever done," she said.

Sources: http://www.lakecountrynow.com/news/oconomowocfocus/making-other-parents-dreams-come-true-b99564191z1-323424541.html

BEYONCE PREGNANT FOR A SECOND TIME THROUGH SURROGATE?

Beyonce and Jay Z are expecting a second child and if the latest reports are to be believed then it is through a surrogate. Read on to know more details.

According to In Touch magazine, the 33-years-old singer is sorting out the possible surrogate as she and her husband add to their family. Beyonce’s first daughter, Blue Ivy, was born 3 years ago and now the couple seemed to be eager to have a younger brother or sister for Blue. According to an insider, the power couple are in the process of having a baby through a surrogate.

In her documentary, “Life is but a Dream,” the singer said that thinking of having a baby via a surrogate is indeed a tough decision, but ever since she suffered from a miscarriage she stills feels very hard to carry a baby again.

“They were trying for several months, but Beyoncé was having trouble. She was scared about another high-risk pregnancy, so surrogacy became the best decision for them,” the insider added.

According to  HollywoodLife.com, the couple did not want to take any more risk. After their legal documents were finalized by their lawyer, the couple took another two months to find the perfect woman who would carry their child. When someone asked to know more about the surrogate mother, the insider said that she is in the early stages of her pregnancy, so no one is making any official announcement.

Is the Baby to Save their Marriage?

Ever since the reports of Jay Z’s infidelity started to surface online, it started to look that their marriage was in trouble and since then Jay Z has been pushing Beyonce to have another baby with a hope that the child will bring them closer together.

At the same time, the singer is really very much concerned about Beyonce’s health. That’s why he does not want her to go through any risk. All that Jay Z wants to make sure is to ensure everything to go as smoothly as possible. Either way, fans just hope that they continue to work on their marriage.

Sources: http://www.movienewsguide.com/beyonce-pregnant-second-time-surrogate/88623

India-Origin Actor's Book Talks of Surrogacy, Late Parenthood

NEW DELHI:  There is an urgent need for guidelines for the "unregulated" surrogacy industry in India to protect rights and health of surrogates as well as intended parents from exploitation, says acclaimed British Indian actor and writer Meera Syal whose new novel deals with the subject.

Ms Syal was watching a documentary and her attention was caught by images of a row of poor and very pregnant Indian women sitting in what looked like the dormitory of a women's college. The programme was a revelation for her, as until that point she hadn't known that India was the world centre for surrogacy.

"I knew it was the subject I had been waiting for, for my next novel. I thought it was a perfect metaphor for exploring the complex and ever changing relationship between India and specifically Britain and for also exploring so many of the areas which currently interest me; how women feel about ageing, mothers and daughters, 'blended' families and how they work, the exploitation and ownership of women's bodies, the politics of fertility and the huge industry surrounding it and how the longing for a child can turn your life literally upside down," she says.

And thus her third novel "The House of the Hidden Mothers" was born.

Late parenthood is certainly happening a lot more across all communities as many couples delay having families for economic or career reasons, says Ms Syal, who has starred in the hit series "The Kumars at No. 42" and recently in the BBC film of David Walliams "The Boy in the Dress".

"And of course like my central character Shyama, there are the people who have second marriages and long to have a child with a new partner. At 48, this is unlikely for Shyama and even though she has a 19-year-old daughter from her first marriage, Tara, who is violently opposed to her mother's surrogacy plans, the desire for a child can be all consuming and surrogacy is one of the few options available to achieve that dream," she says.

She wanted her book to be a gripping human story, part psychological thriller as the power balance shifts between the women, and that what would be paramount is the human emotional journey rather than an "issue" book.

"I really want the reader to care about both women, see the journey from both their points of view. And also see the ripple effect on the entire family that this surrogacy journey provokes. This is why it was also important for me that Mala, the surrogate from a small rural community, is not seen as a victim but I hope comes across as a strong, vivid, intelligent woman who is only too aware of the limitations of her life and longs for something better," Ms Syal told PTI.

She says there is a reason India's surrogacy industry is the largest in the world, it's at the moment unregulated and significantly cheaper than mo st other countries and there are rightly real concerns about how some areas of it are being run, specifically when it comes to the treatment of the surrogate women themselves who are inevitably poor and often illiterate.

"Why else would such a woman offer her womb for hire unless she had nothing else of worth to sell? However, it is not going to go away, whilst there are wealthy infertile couples and poorer fertile women for hire so the least one can hope is that there are worldwide regulations and guidelines put in place to protect the rights and health of the surrogates," he suggests.

She says lack of regulations has put poor Indian women at the risk of being exploited or lured by money to lend their wombs.

"The bald fact is, Indian women are paid far less than their Western counterparts for the same service and have much less protection: there is a need for international consultation and guidelines to try and make the system as fair as possible for the surrogates and also for the intended parents who can also be exploited too."

"The House of the Hidden Mothers", published by Penguin Random House, has come 16 years after "Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee". Her first novel was "Anita and Me" (a national curriculum set text).

"I started researching the novel in early 2013.The research took about 6 months in all and although I didn't visit any clinics in India, I did talk to professionals here (London) who have worked in Indian clinics and the most invaluable insights came from a couple I found through mutual friends.

"They have had 2 children via Indian surrogates so they had copious knowledge and experience of the system. Interestingly it is amazing how much you can find out online as for many couples outside India seeking an Indian surrogate that is where most of their research and process is done. Many foreign couples do not visit India at all until the time comes to pick up their baby," she says.

Sources: http://www.ndtv.com/diaspora/india-origin-actors-book-talks-of-surrogacy-late-parenthood-1212439

ConCourt to consider genetic link on surrogacy law

The Constitutional Court is set to consider whether the genetic-link requirement in surrogacy law should remain.

The requirement means that if one is unable to carry one's own child and similarly unable to donate either the egg or the sperm, then one is excluded from entering into a surrogacy agreement.

Earlier this month, the High Court in Pretoria found that the requirement is unconstitutional and invalid. This order must be confirmed by the Constitutional Court in the land before it can have any effect.

There is a strict confidentiality agreement in place to protect the identity of the woman at the centre of this case. It's said that not even the responding government minister knows who she is. The woman is said to be 55 years old and divorced.

After numerous failed attempts for an In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) it is reported that the only way she can become a mom is to use a surrogacy.

The Centre for Child Law made submissions as a friend of the court, largely in favour of retaining the genetic link requirement
During the hearing in the High Court, and in defence of the genetic-link requirement, the argument around designer babies was raised.

It is said that the requirement would block people from shopping around to create the perfect baby. Talking on behalf of the Surrogacy Advisory Group, Robynne Friedman rejects the argument.

“Parents are not choosing a super baby they are choosing the characteristics that will closely resemble themselves. They are choosing characteristics with a donor egg that will match their physical and intellectual levels, they do not look for super sportsman or super scientist they only want the baby to look like them,”says Friedman.

The Centre for Child Law made submissions as a friend of the court, largely in favour of retaining the genetic link requirement. The Centre's Karabo Ozah says this would ultimately be in the child's best interest.

They suggest that Parliament be allowed to reconsider the law, with a view of creating possible exceptions to the rule,such as using the donor egg/sperm of a blood relative. Friedman argues that genes play no role in family bonding.

Friedmn says, “I have two adopted children who are not genetically related to me they don’t look remotely like me but I am completely bonded to them and they are completely bonded to me and we're a family.”

In opposing the application, the Social Development Minister relied heavily on the evidence of Ethics by Professor, Donna Van Bogaert. But lawyers for the Surrogacy Advocacy Group tore this expert to shreds.

They accused her, of among other things, perverting and misrepresenting the research findings of others. They highlighted several inconsistencies in her work, calling her biased and asking that her opinions be disregarded by the court.

Ultimately, the High Court slapped the minister with a punitive cost order after finding that she displayed a "flagrant disregard" for her constitutional duty.

This is after the Minister dragged her feet on submitting the "adoption report”,which largely supported AB's position that adoption is not a viable option.

When contacted for comment, the Department said they are still studying the judgment and would revert in due course. The Constitutional Court has yet to indicate when it will hear arguments.

Sources: http://thenewage.co.za/168693-1008-53-ConCourt_to_consider_genetic_link_on_surrogacy_law

"I feel sexy when pregnant, but I'm giving it up to lose weight" says surrogate mum who doubled in size

The woman who has had three children as a surrogate and two of her own wants to give up the deep fried haggis and junk food to get back to a normal weight

One woman decides to give up being a surrogate so she can get back to her pre-wedding weight as part of Channel 5's Supersized season.

Jenn got married four years ago to husband Justin, but her vocation as a surrogate mother has led her to pile on weight.

After giving birth to three children for other people and two of her own she wants to change for her family's sake.

She says: "When I'm pregnant I feel really sexy. I feel on top of the world, just generally glowing and really pretty.

"I really need to lose the weight for myself and for my family."

But her love of fatty food - such as deep fried whole chickens, deep fried burgers and deep fried haggis - has held her back from losing weight.

Even though she has gone up four dress sizes in the four years they've been married, husband Justin thinks their sex life is just fine.

"I don't think this has affected our sex life at all. I'm quite confident with my husband.

"Not to brag but there's absolutely nothing wrong with our sex lives. It's quite nice to go to work and get a rest sometimes," jokes Justin.

The documentary, Skinny Brides to Fat Wives, follows several women who have almost doubled in size since they got married.

The men in their lives love them no matter what, but the women are striving to get back to a smaller version of themselves.

It's a funny but touching account as the women try their hardest to inject some romance back into their lives by losing the weight they see as a problem.

Michelle's husband Andy is straight to the point about his wife's weight gain: "I know she's put weight on, its been a gradual thing. You buy a car don't you, you don't expect it to look the same in 10 years."

She uses a sexy photo shoot to spur her weight loss on but comes to the realisation: "You don't need to be skinny to be sexy," before adding about her husband's earlier comment, "He may have bought an Audi, but he's driving a Ferrari now."

The women use different methods to get to their weight goals, but it's a long hard slog - especially with so many temptations along the way.

Sources: http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-previews/i-feel-sexy-pregnant-im-6294192

Is 50 too old to become a mother?

M&S did not comment on whether Ms Wade-Gery was pregnant, adopting or using a surrogate. There was to be no rummaging around in her knicker drawer.

Laura Wade-Gery, Marks & Spencer’s most senior female executive, chose the company’s AGM to let her colleagues know she was planning to take some maternity leave.

Nothing strange there. Except maybe that the rules of the London Stock Exchange demand that investors are told if senior directors will be away from their desks for more than three weeks. Bang goes keeping your pregnancy quiet if you plan to rise up the corporate ladder.

“Woman To Take Maternity Leave” is no shocker. “Women to have baby at 50” is. It is Wade-Gery ‘s first child.

Lingerie retailer M&S did not comment on whether Ms Wade-Gery was pregnant, adopting or using a surrogate. There was to be no rummaging around in her knicker drawer.

“Laura and her husband are looking forward to welcoming a child into their family,” a company spokesperson said.

Wade-Gery’s second husband, Simon Roberts, is 67. Yes 67. The tabloids are letting that sleeping dog lie, though. Men can father children willy, nilly for as long as they like, it seems.

Yet it is not all books with big letters and afternoon naps for older fathers. In May, a researcher at Vienna University found: “someone born to a father of 22 is already 5 to 10 per cent more attractive than a 40-year-old father and the difference grows with the age gap”.

So, men are responsible for the ugly gene. At least that’s one thing women can’t be blamed for.

From September 1st, Wade-Gery will take four months off to care for her first child.

Apparently “surprise rippled through the City” at the news, proving that the City really is a boys’ club.

The real surprise for any baby producer is that Wade-Gery is only taking four months out of the office. Surely M&S maternity leave is not just maternity leave, it is “M&S maternity leave”….

Some people are thrilled for Wade-Gerry.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe, who worked with Laura Wade-Gery at Tesco and was appointed a life peer in 2013, said she was chuffed for her former colleague. “I’m delighted at her news, which I know fulfils her deepest wishes.”

“In becoming a mother at 50, Wade-Gery is flouting the speculation, pressure and judgment that are brought down on any woman who dares act outside the prescribed template,” journalist Bidisha wrote in the Guardian.

“I wonder what women’s lives would look like if we unhitched ourselves from the approved timetable and followed our inner desires rather than conventional expectations. I bet many women with the means would spend their 20s, 30s and most of their 40s studying, travelling, working, partying, pursuing cultural passions or personal success or artistic talents, before having kids in their late 40s, with or without a partner.”

That’s one opinion.

Anyone who spent their early 20s hauling buggies and children on to ill-equipped buses, might well see the merits in “partying and pursuing cultural passions” rather than watching endless episodes of Mighty Morphin’s Power Rangers.

There are many ways of living a life, though.

Women’s fertility remains the same but reproductive technology is moving on and the choices some women make are getting closer to men’s choices.

Some of us will feel that at 50, we don’t have the energy for a new baby. Others will have waited and be ready to give a child what they need. We are all different - and, after all, men have been doing it for ages.

As Laura Wade-Gery said earlier this year: “I can’t say that it’s been easy. But I think most of the stuff in life that is easy is not worth doing.”

HAVE your say… Is 50 too old to have a baby?

Sources: http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/is-50-too-old-to-become-a-mother-1.2324308

Guidelines issued for issue of passport to minor children

The External Affairs Ministry has issued guidelines for issue of passport to minor children born to Indian or foreign genetic parents through surrogacy in India.

As there is no specific provision for such children, the Ministry has decided to apply the Indian Council of Medical Research guidelines that genetic parents are the real biological parents of the surrogate child.

Genetic parents, while applying for a minor child, have to submit the surrogacy agreement duly registered under the Registration Act, bonafide certificate issued by the head of the fertility clinic where the surrogacy was carried out; birth certificate issued by the competent authority in the name of the genetic parents of the surrogate child and DNA profiling test establishing the parentage of the surrogate child issued by the government or government-recognised laboratory.

However, as there is no government recognised laboratory in India to do DNA profiling test and government institutions do it only on the order of courts, the Ministry has decided to accept an affidavit sworn duly by the genetic parent before an Executive Magistrate or I class Judicial Magistrate affirming that the surrogate child was born through surrogacy in pursuance of the registered surrogacy agreement executed between the genetic parents and the surrogate mother, S.Lingasamy, Regional Passport Officer, Tiruchi, said in a press release.

Sources: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/guidelines-issued-for-issue-of-passport-to-minor-children/article7563949.ece

When television pushes the social agenda

It's an odd state of affairs when some of the country's hot button issues - gay marriage, surrogacy - can't find a place on the political agenda, but wind up as plot lines in television drama.

But from this week, as House Husbands powers through its fourth season, that's exactly what's happening. There's a surrogacy storyline for same-sex partners, Kane and Alex, played by Gyton Grantley and Darren McMullen, whose relationship looks like trundling towards 'I do'.

The show's stars are pleased to be blazing a trail.

"I personally have been a big and vocal advocate of marriage equality for quite a long time," says Julia Morris, whose character Gemma will feature heavily in the surrogacy plot lines.

"At last year's Logies I bought my own dress so I didn't have to promote anybody, and wore a marriage equality ring [so I could talk about the issue on the red carpet]. It's very much in my world. So I am very proud to be able to wave the flag, and have my character produce a child for a same-sex couple.
"
Highlighting socially contentious situations in a television drama has long been cited as a way to force change.

Earlier this year The Atlantic noted the rise of American acceptance of gay marriage started in 2009 (according to Gallup poll figures), which was coincidentally – or perhaps not – the year TV viewers were introduced to Cam and Mitch (played by Eric Stonestreet​ and Jesse Tyler Ferguson), the gay couple living with their adopted daughter in Modern Family.

Ten million people a week watched the pair have a very normal relationship and get married when Californian law allowed them to.

And the same is now playing out on Australian TV screens, House Husbands adding its voice to the national call for change.

"We absolutely don't shy away from any of those issues," says Morris. "I like that we are delving into a number of the things that are driving our community at the moment.

"Maybe I'm kidding myself,  and maybe it's just the people I surround myself with, but I think we are more open about marriage equality than certainly the government gives us credit for. "

Grantley agrees. He's pleased his character's storylines are portrayed as nothing out of the ordinary. Why shouldn't it be unremarkable that Kane falls in love, wants to marry his partner, and is embarking on a journey towards parenthood once more, this time via a surrogate?

"[I like that the show is not] playing on the gay thing too much, it's just there. We don't have to push anything too much. There is just a mutual respect for each other and love and affection [between Kane and Alex]. And that plays well for our characters," Grantley explains.

He admits he is keen for his own sexuality - he's straight, but that's by the by – to be a non-issue when it comes to talking about what it's like to play Kane.

"You don't have to be a serial killer to play a serial killer. Ultimately, it shouldn't be a thing," he stresses.

"I think that's the best part – not playing on the fact that we are gay. A lot of people don't realise that our characters are, until they're told. And I think that is the important part. Because it shouldn't be an issue. It should be about how much we love our children, and how much we are dedicated to raising them lovingly as a family.

"It should be about being a house husband, and not about being a gay guy."

In 2012 a Hollywood Reporter poll found 27 per cent of voters said the way gay characters were depicted in television series had made them pro-gay marriage.

Before that, actor Dennis Haysbert said he believed his role in 24 - as David Palmer, the fictitious first black US president - had helped pave the way for US President Barack Obama's election in 2008.

"(Palmer) may have helped open the eyes of the American people," he said. "And I mean the American people from across the board – from the poorest to the richest, every colour and creed, every religious base – to prove the possibility there could be an African-American president, a female president, any type of president."

Whether a cultural shift of that magnitude happens in Australia or not, Grantley and Morris both say they're happy to push the conversation, with Grantley saying he favours a softly-softly approach.

"I have just looked at [my storylines] as being about a man who wants to raise his children. And what he does in the bedroom shouldn't be an issue," Grantley explain. "And the more that is encouraged and projected, and the more it is presented as normal, means audiences will accept it as normal.

"If you present it as an issue, and say 'You can't do that,' then the audience thinks that too."

So, when the law does eventually change, and same-sex couples are allowed to marry, will we see this reflected on the show? Will Kane and Alex get their 'conventional' happily-ever-after?

"I hope so," says Morris. "Who knows?

"Hopefully if the referendum comes, or the law is passed through, they will be able to. But I wonder – we might have to hold that over for another series. "

Sources: http://www.watoday.com.au/entertaining-kids/tv-and-movies/when-television-pushes-the-social-agenda-20150815-giz840.html

Proposals on surrogacy, embryo freezing, raise tough questions

Experts consulted by the Times of Malta stand united against surrogacy but are divided on a proposal to allow embryo freezing.

As the government reviews the IVF law, Nisa Laburisti have urged the government to consider the introduction of surrogacy and embryo freezing.

Paul Sultana, IVF practitioner and laboratory director at Saint James Hospital, said he has his reservations on surrogacy. “I’m not against gay couples having children, but there are consequences of surrogacy. Basically, you’re hiring a womb and with that come ramifications, such as that of payment.”

Faculty of Theology dean Fr Emmanuel Agius said a balance had to be struck between a couple’s desire for children and the rights of the prospective child. Surrogacy flung the door wide open for the commercialisation of women’s wombs and rendered children a commodity to be sold. What would the emotional effects be on a woman who, following the bond established during gestation, would have to give up the baby?

Charles Savona Ventura, head of obstetrics and gynaecology, said there were situations where surrogacy could be contemplated such as with women who had no uterus either through a congenital malformation or surgery. But it was despicable if surrogacy was undertaken simply because a woman did not wish to go through the travail of pregnancy and childbirth because of body changes and career.

Mr Sultana said he was in favour of embryo freezing as it allowed for the best success rate with the least negative outcomes.

But Fr Agius asked what the moral and legal status of the embryo was. "Science is clear: an embryo is the beginning of human life. What Nisa Laburisti is proposing is the destruction of human life,” he said.
 
Fr Sultana asked what would happen to the frozen embryos once years went by and they were not thawed.

Sources: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20150820/local/proposals-on-surrogacy-embryo-freezing-raise-tough-questions.581288

New hope for the childless

Divorced single women who cannot fall pregnant or conceive children through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) have been offered hope to become mothers via a landmark court decision.

This follows a successful challenge to the law governing surrogacy, by a woman known only as AB.

The woman, supported by the Surrogacy Advisory Group, said the law was discriminatory and violated her rights to choose surrogacy as her only option (apart from adoption and its bureaucratic red tape) to become a mother.

The Pretoria High Court ordered the ministry of social development to pay the costs of the action.

In a watershed judgment, Judge AC Basson ruled that the legislation was unfair and violated the rights, privacy and dignity of the woman, who had made 18 unsuccessful IVF attempts to have a baby.

The judge said it was not necessary to strike down the whole portion of the act governing surrogacy because the court found that only the genetic link requirement in the law was unconstitutional and invalid.

It is standard procedure in South Africa that all surrogacy agreements are sanctioned by the high court before the medical procedures begin.

Judge Basson said if the commissioning parents, or as in this case, a single person, are therefore biologically or medically unable to use their own gametes, the agreement would be invalid and the commissioning parents were legally prohibited from proceeding with surrogacy.

Judge Basson said in the factual matrix of this case the genetic link requirement effectively made it impossible for the applicant (AB) to conclude a surrogacy agreement.

“Because of the flawed law, she had just one option left – adoption. Adoption is a cumbersome and a time-consuming process. There is no certainty that an adoption application will be approved, even after years of waiting.”

The judge said it was clear that AB could not donate her own gametes.

“Her medical condition is permanent and irreversible. In 14 of the 18 IVF cycles, both male and female anonymous donor gametes were used.

“In other words, in the context of IVF, she made use of double donors to become pregnant.

“It is evident from her gynaecologist’s affidavit that she cannot contribute her own gametes for conception.”

The applicant said she was shocked, saddened and baffled when she was informed that she could not be considered for surrogacy because she could not provide the gametes.

She was puzzled because she had used double donors for years when attempting IVF.

“She believed the law was unfair and discriminated against single divorced women like herself,” said Judge Basson.

The judge gave the ministry of social development a tongue lashing for not co-operating with the applicant as far as the adoption report was concerned.

“The contents of the report were of considerable importance in this case.”

The ministry had commissioned the Human Sciences Research Council to compile the report. The respondent had also informed AB that it would only hand over the report if directed to do so by a court order.

“What is concerning is the contradictory statements given by the respondent’s department about the report.”

Judge Basson said the respondent had failed to convince the court that the law did not discriminate against the woman.

“It was submitted on behalf of the respondent that the IVF and surrogacy procedures are different and therefore not comparable.

“It was further submitted that in the event of double donor gametes, the surrogate mother merely provides her womb for hire, and that to allow the commissioning of a child with no genetic link to the commissioning parent is tantamount to the creation of a new form of adoption by the commissioning parent,” the judge said.

“While the procedures involved are different, I don’t agree with the respondent’s submissions.

“The womb for hire claim is fundamentally wrong. Section 295 (c) (iv) of the act specifically outlaws using surrogacy as a source of income.

“The submission that surrogacy will circumvent the existing laws for adoption is groundless.

“This submission is without merit, since the respondent conceded that adoption for AB is not a viable option.”

Sources: http://www.iol.co.za/news/new-hope-for-the-childless-1.1903169#.VdwEUiWqqko

Guidelines issued for issue of passport to minor children

The External Affairs Ministry has issued guidelines for issue of passport to minor children born to Indian or foreign genetic parents through surrogacy in India.

As there is no specific provision for such children, the Ministry has decided to apply the Indian Council of Medical Research guidelines that genetic parents are the real biological parents of the surrogate child.

Genetic parents, while applying for a minor child, have to submit the surrogacy agreement duly registered under the Registration Act, bonafide certificate issued by the head of the fertility clinic where the surrogacy was carried out; birth certificate issued by the competent authority in the name of the genetic parents of the surrogate child and DNA profiling test establishing the parentage of the surrogate child issued by the government or government-recognised laboratory.

However, as there is no government recognised laboratory in India to do DNA profiling test and government institutions do it only on the order of courts, the Ministry has decided to accept an affidavit sworn duly by the genetic parent before an Executive Magistrate or I class Judicial Magistrate affirming that the surrogate child was born through surrogacy in pursuance of the registered surrogacy agreement executed between the genetic parents and the surrogate mother, S.Lingasamy, Regional Passport Officer, Tiruchi, said in a press release.

Sources: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/guidelines-issued-for-issue-of-passport-to-minor-children/article7563949.ece

Watershed ruling on surrogacy

Pretoria - In a legal victory for parents unable to contribute their own sperm and eggs for the conception of a child, the high court in Pretoria overturned the so-called genetic link requirement for surrogacy.

This means that neither party need to contribute a gamete, and as in the case of in vitro fertilisation (IVF), no genetic lineage is required.

Up until now, the statutory requirement was that surrogacy commissioning parents had to contribute their own gametes - either both of them or at least one of them.

In the case of IVF, no genetic link was required.

But as the law stood on surrogacy, certain potential parents were excluded if neither of them could make a genetic contribution to the conception. If there was no genetic link, there could be no surrogacy agreement.

But Judge Anneli Basson, in a groundbreaking judgment, found this was against the Constitution which protected human rights.

The judgment followed an application by a woman who tried IVF - in vain - and as she does not have a partner or cannot contribute an egg herself, surrogacy was not an option as she did not qualify. This was despite a surrogate mother agreeing to carry the baby for her. The application was brought against the social development minister, with the Centre for Child Law in Pretoria joining in as a friend of the court.

The applicant said as the law now stood, a single infertile person was legally forbidden to use surrogacy as a means to become a parent.

The minister, on the other hand, said genetic lineage was relevant in defending the concept of a family.

But Judge Basson said: “A family cannot be defined with reference to the question whether a genetic link between the parent and the child exists. Our society does not regard a family consisting of an adopted child as less valuable or less equal than a family where children are the natural or genetically linked children of the parents. A family can therefore not be defined by genetic lineage.”

The Surrogacy Advisory Group, which assisted the applicant, hailed the judgment as groundbreaking.

“Surrogacy is a wonderful gift that a woman can give another couple that cannot carry a pregnancy themselves. We are delighted that the court has taken the stance to protect infertile people from discriminatory legislation,” Robynne Friedman, chief adviser of the group said.

The matter will, however, have to be tested in the Constitutional Court, which will have the last word on this legislation.

Sources: http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/watershed-ruling-on-surrogacy-1.1901954#.VdRTOLKqqko

Childless couples thrown a lifeline

One woman's 14-year battle with infertility has led to couples unable to have children now being able to start a family using surrogacy - without one of the partners having to give eggs or sperm to the birth mother.

In the first-of-its-kind case, a Cape Town woman successfully challenged a provision of the Children's Act of 2005 that allows surrogacy only when at least one of the commissioning parents contributes an egg or sperm.

The Pretoria High Court on Wednesday struck down the genetic-link requirement in surrogacy, declaring it unconstitutional.

Judge Anneli Basson said the case raised "difficult legal and ethical questions. [The dispute] raises complex and emotional issues that have a fundamental effect on many individuals who struggle with the devastating effects of infertility."

She said the genetic-link requirement violated human rights on a "very personal and intimate level. It effectively puts persons' personal lives and family building plans on hold. This situation begs immediate relief."

The case was brought against Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini, who opposed the application but failed to present evidence to the court in time.

The Surrogacy Advisory Group, which assisted the woman in her court action, will ask the Constitutional Court to confirm the High Court order. The woman, whose identity is protected by court order, had a "permanent and irreversible" condition which prevented her from becoming pregnant. Since 2001 the 56-year-old has undergone 18 in vitro fertilisation procedures and has had two miscarriages. With little hope, she pursued the surrogacy option.

She said she was "shocked, saddened and baffled" when she discovered that she could not use surrogacy to have a child.

She claimed the requirement of a genetic link violated a number of her constitutional rights, including those related to equality and human dignity.

Yesterday experts welcomed the judgment, saying it would lead to more people applying for surrogacy agreements.

Pretoria attorney Adele van der Walt said she often dealt with similar matters and had foreign clients who faced this problem.

"This is opening up possibilities for people and creating opportunities for parents," Van der Walt said.

Johannesburg attorney Megan Harrington-Johnson said the judgment could be good news for couples denied children because of the bureaucracy inseparable from adoption.

"If this is confirmed by the Constitutional Court, there will now be very many more applications for surrogacy agreements. This is because there is so much red tape involved in adopting a child and so infertile couples may elect to take this route instead."

Surrogacy Advisory Group chief adviser Robynne Friedman said she sees three or four cases a month similar to that of the Cape Town woman and has had to turn infertile couples away.

"A woman who lost her husband wanted to have a sibling for her child but she was infertile. I have had gay couples who have abandoned the process. Surrogacy is a wonderful gift that a woman can give another couple that cannot carry a pregnancy."

Sources: http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2015/08/14/Childless-couples-thrown-a-lifeline

Welfare of children is first priority when crafting reproductive laws lawsmedicine

There have been rapid advances in assisted reproductive medicine, such as improved techniques for achieving pregnancy via eggs or sperm donated by third parties and for surrogate motherhood.
Broad-based discussion is required for improving legislation on these topics.

The Liberal Democratic Party's project team, comprised of members of the health, labor and welfare division and judicial affairs division, has compiled a bill to be related to Japan's Civil Code regarding assisted reproductive medicine.

The major pillar of the bill is a stipulation that, regarding childbirth achieved via donor eggs, the woman who gives birth must be recognized as the baby's mother.

The party plans to submit the bill to the current Diet session.

The Civil Code did not contemplate childbirth through assisted reproductive medicine involving third parties, and it has no clear stipulations regarding the relationship between a child and the parents in such circumstances.

We can understand the LDP's aim of stabilizing the law's treatment of the parent-child relationship from a viewpoint of child welfare, by establishing a new law beside the Civil Code.

Many people will probably agree with a rule that the woman who actually gives birth with the will to raise the baby must be recognized as the baby's mother, rather than the "genetic mother" who donates eggs.

Meanwhile, in the case of surrogacy, which involves a third-party woman who gives birth using an egg from the wife and the sperm of her husband, a parent-child relationship between the wife and the child cannot be recognized.

As Japan's Supreme Court has handed down a judgment similar to this, the bill has come in line with this way of thinking.

The Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology has made clear through announcements and other means that it does not approve of in-vitro fertilization using donor eggs nor surrogate pregnancy in Japan.

But legal provisions have yet to be drafted concerning assisted reproductive medicine. The LDP's team has put off formulating any concrete statutory rules on these issues for now.

Techniques Outpace Laws
It was made known last month that there have been in-vitro fertilizations using eggs donated by volunteers for women with an ovarian disorder.

The fertilizations were carried out under the auspices of a non-profit organization established by a doctor engaged in fertility treatment and a group of patients.

This development reveals the real state of affairs: Practical efforts on the medical frontier have been going ahead while there are no statutory rules in place.

It is estimated that each year more than 100 Japanese women give birth to babies conceived overseas using donor eggs.

Regarding surrogate pregnancy, incidents have occurred overseas such as a couple refusing to accept a baby born to a surrogate because of a possible disability or a surrogate mother refusing to hand over the baby.

An arrangement under which a stable upbringing of a child is ensured is essential.

As for the use of donor sperm, an established fertility treatment, there has been a growing number of cases in recent years in which the resulting child wants to know his or her genetic father.

There is concern that should sperm donors be identified, sperm donations will decline.

It is necessary to further discuss the issue of what to do with information regarding the origins of those who are born through assisted reproductive technology.

Amid an increase in the number of women having babies later in life, there are many couples who want to take advantage of assisted reproductive medicine.

Is it allowable, however, to have third parties assume physical burdens in the first place, such as pregnancy and childbirth or donation of eggs?

It is essential to discuss these fundamental issues.

The most important thing is to have a perspective that puts top priority on the happiness of those children to be born through reproductive medicine.

Sources: http://www.chinapost.com.tw/commentary/the-china-post/special-to-the-china-post/2015/08/13/443108/p2/Welfare-of.htm

Legislation on reproductive medicine should put children’s welfare first

There have been rapid advances in assisted reproductive medicine, such as improved techniques for achieving pregnancy via eggs or sperm donated by third parties and for surrogate motherhood. Broad-based discussion is required for improving legislation on these topics.

The Liberal Democratic Party’s project team, comprised of members of the health, labor and welfare division and judicial affairs division, has compiled a bill to be related to the Civil Code regarding assisted reproductive medicine.

The major pillar of the bill is a stipulation that, regarding childbirth achieved via donor eggs, the woman who gives birth must be recognized as the baby’s mother. The party plans to submit the bill to the current Diet session.

The Civil Code did not contemplate childbirth through assisted reproductive medicine involving third parties, and it has no clear stipulations regarding the relationship between a child and the parents in such circumstances.

We can understand the LDP’s aim of stabilizing the law’s treatment of the parent-child relationship from a viewpoint of child welfare, by establishing a new law beside the Civil Code. Many people will probably agree with a rule that the woman who actually gives birth with the will to raise the baby must be recognized as the baby’s mother, rather than the “genetic mother” who donates eggs.

Meanwhile, in the case of surrogacy, which involves a third-party woman who gives birth using an egg from the wife and the sperm of her husband, a parent-child relationship between the wife and the child cannot be recognized.

As the Supreme Court has handed down a judgment similar to this, the bill has come in line with this way of thinking.

The Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology has made clear through announcements and other means that it does not approve of in vitro fertilization using donor eggs nor surrogate pregnancy in Japan.

But legal provisions have yet to be drafted concerning assisted reproductive medicine. The LDP’s team has put off formulating any concrete statutory rules on these issues for now.

Techniques outpace laws

It was made known last month that there have been in vitro fertilizations using eggs donated by volunteers for women with an ovarian disorder. The fertilizations were carried out under the auspices of a nonprofit organization established by a doctor engaged in fertility treatment and a group of patients.

This development reveals the real state of affairs: Practical efforts on the medical frontier have been going ahead while there are no statutory rules in place. It is estimated that each year more than 100 Japanese women give birth to babies conceived overseas using donor eggs.

Regarding surrogate pregnancy, incidents have occurred overseas such as a couple refusing to accept a baby born to a surrogate because of a possible disability or a surrogate mother refusing to hand over the baby. An arrangement under which a stable upbringing of a child is ensured is essential.

As for the use of donor sperm, an established fertility treatment, there has been a growing number of cases in recent years in which the resulting child wants to know his or her genetic father.

There is concern that should sperm donors be identified, sperm donations will decline. It is necessary to further discuss the issue of what to do with information regarding the origins of those who are born through assisted reproductive technology.

Amid an increase in the number of women having babies later in life, there are many couples who want to take advantage of assisted reproductive medicine.

Is it allowable, however, to have third parties assume physical burdens in the first place, such as pregnancy and childbirth or donation of eggs? It is essential to discuss these fundamental issues. The most important thing is to have a perspective that puts top priority on the happiness of those children to be born through reproductive medicine.

Sources: http://www.the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002348753

Surrogate mothers are not ‘baby factories’ says former Nigerian official

Calling surrogate mothers ‘baby factories’ and cracking down on the issue only stigmatizes parents, says Reno Omokri, former Special Assistant to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on New Media

A former aide to Nigerian ex-President Goodluck Jonathan is speaking out against stigmatization of surrogate mothers in the country, saying the practice should be allowed by government.

Reno Omokri, who lives in California, is urging the Nigerian government to regulate the sector, where orphan women and girls are often impregnated against their will before their babies are sold – leading to the term ‘baby factories’.

While he admits there is a problem with the lack of regulation, Omokri suggests mothers who consent to surrogacy should be treated with dignity and respect.

‘This is the 21st Century not the 12th,’ he said. ‘If women wish to be surrogate mothers, government shouldn’t stigmatize them as a ‘Baby Factories’.

‘As long as these aren’t underaged girls, and as long as they consent without duress to be surrogate mothers, they have committed no crime.’

Omokri said surrogacy should remain a legitimate option for couples unable to have children – enabling the parents to know more about the family history and genetics of their unborn child than they would with anonymous adoptions.

‘Tens of thousands of surrogate children are born each year in the Americas and even more in Europe,’ he explained, writing in the Premium Times.

‘Anyone who has ever experienced childlessness either directly or indirectly through a relative, extended family or friend is likely to appreciate the role surrogate mothers play in bringing succor to such families.

‘To ostracize them and tag them ‘Baby Factories’ is most unfortunate indeed.’

While attitudes to surrogacy are slowly shifting in the country, Nigeria has a long way to go as far as LGBTI rights are concerned.

Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is illegal, and can be punishable by 14 years in prison or death by stoning.

Sources: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/surrogate-mothers-are-not-baby-factories-says-former-nigerian-official/

'Queen Bey' might be expecting her second child

A recent photo of Beyonce reignited rumors that she is expecting her second child.

The R&B singer was spotted at the West Side Heliport where she disembarked from a helicopter after spending a short vacation at the Hamptons with her whole family.

As she strode to a waiting car, Queen Bey held a laptop close to her body strategically hiding what appears to be baby curves.

Beyonce already has a daughter named Blue Ivy Carter whom she gave birth to on January 7, 2012 at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. Her pregnancy at the time caused quite a stir from fans that security was tightened during her labor. Blue Ivy is the first child of Beyonce and husband Jay Z.

Now rumors are spreading again that the famous couple is going to have baby number 2 and their fans are dying to know if it is true.

This isn't the first time Beyonce was rumored to be pregnant with a second child. In January, Michelle Williams, who is Beyonce's former bandmate in Destiny's Child, tried to debunk rumors that Knowles was pregnant after the latter posted a photo of herself on Instagram buried beneath the sand with the sand looking like a pregnant belly.

Williams appeared on "The View" and spoke about the picture. She said, "First of all, if you look at the picture, the baby bump is probably where her knees probably really are... Just stop it, stop it," she added, "You know, when she was pregnant, people said that she wasn't pregnant. There's just no truth to it. Sorry!"

In June, reports said that a surrogate mother was enlisted to carry Beyonce and Jay Z's second child. A source from the couple's camp said, "They were trying for several months, but Beyonce was having trouble. She was scared about another high-risk pregnancy, so surrogacy became the best decision for them."

The source added that the couple was hesitant to take any more risks, which prompted them to seek help from a surrogate. After the legalities were taken care of, it took them two months before they found the perfect candidate to carry their second child.

According to the same source, since the surrogate mother is still in the early stages of the pregnancy, the famous couple is holding back from announcing any news to the public.

Sources: http://www.mnrdaily.com/article/queen.bey.might.be.expecting.her.second.child/2521.htm

Marriage vs Egg Donation

Family is by chance, friend is by choice. Who has not heard about this quote and does not understand the importance of choosing your friends.

Whereas the marriage could stand for “making a family by choice”. Whether we refer to the older generation where only parents were allowed to “choose” bride / groom, or the present generation where the individual chooses a “friend” to become a “family”; Choice is an integral part of forming a family.

Infertility is no more a taboo, it is “just” a medical condition like any other, may it be headache, gastritis, poor eyesight, etc. Yes, it took a long time for the Indian culture to open its arms for IVF treatments, but couples are ready to talk about it, discuss, look at options, and choose the best option available.

We remember a beautiful story of a couple:

Couple finding it difficult to conceive, the Husband asks his wife, if she wanted to have her own genetic child or have her family, complete? This question made it so easy for the wife to accept the egg donor concept. Women who needs to identify something in her child, could choose for some characteristics like intelligence or skin tone (as she cannot see / know the egg donor). This only helps her to connect with the child during growing years, and not live in the shadows of “donor”.

If today’s women, who are educated, self-sufficient, confident, financially independent, come across infertility, don’t they have a right to choose their own path? May it be IVF treatments, adoption, or going for sperm donor / egg donor process. If a woman is being “strong” and ready to accept help to complete her motherhood, doesn’t she has right to accept a match like her? Are these choices limited only to marriage?

Every patient of mine has always said that whatever they can Compensate the donor with is less. We understand what it means. The donor was the reason the woman is a mother today.

ICMR has already laid down a Bill, stating who and how the advertisement can be released. The bill allows the donor to be compensated, and to ensure her details need to be kept confidential.

Let’s support these beautiful women, when they choose to outsource their biggest traumas, their own path, and accept egg donation to complete family. And The egg donors, who understand these women’s traumas and help them.

Empathy is about standing in someone else's shoes, feeling with his or her heart, seeing with his or her eyes. Not only is empathy hard to outsource and automate, but it makes the world a better place.

Daniel H. Pink

Surrogacy has been labeled “reproductive tourism” by a Swiss court

In 2011, two Swiss men who lived in the US registered their partnership. Two months later, they had a child through a surrogate mother in California, and according to the law were both recognized as fathers of the baby. But once back in Switzerland in 2014, despite an initial acknowledgment of their status, the federal court ruled against the status they acquired in the US.

It’s not the gender of the two to be the issue—or at least, not directly. Switzerland recognizes same-sex unions, but surrogacy is illegal and so is the adoption of children by same-sex couples. The country has the right not to recognize foreign documents incompatible with the local law, as it’s the case with a surrogacy birth certificate.

For the court, only one of the men can be the legal father—specifically the one who has biological ties to the baby, who was conceived with the sperm of one of the two men and an anonymous donor’s egg.

In explaining the ruling, which generated outrage amongst the gay community both inside and outside the country, the Swiss court has stated that the principles informing the decision weren’t informed by considerations on same-sex parenting, but rather by an ethical stand on surrogacy itself—as violating of the rights of the surrogate mothers and of the children. The court explained:

…a child must be protected from being downgraded to a commodity which can be ordered from a third party.

The country has faced an insurgence of children obtained through surrogacy services, particularly from Georgia, where services are offered for as little as €15,000 ($16,000). “According to Swiss civil law,” said the court, according to Swissinfo, “a pregnant woman cannot actively abandon her rights regarding the child before it is born”—and accepting the surrogacy would be a commercialization of the woman’s body and wouldn’t guarantee enough protection of her rights.

Highlighting that the two men knowingly bypassed the Swiss law, the court said recognizing their status would encourage “reproductive tourism.”

The Swiss law on assisted reproduction is rather restrictive and only allows IVF that doesn’t require egg or sperm donation, contrary to the country’s fame for liberal medical practices—Switzerland notoriously allows euthanasia, or “assisted dying.”

The case debated by the court, however, presents a further complication compared to what would be faced by an heterosexual couple: since same-sex adoption is not allowed in Switzerland, the “other father” cannot adopt the child had through surrogacy.

Sources: http://qz.com/468145/surrogacy-has-been-labeled-reproductive-tourism-by-a-swiss-court/

New Thai surrogacy law bans foreigners

New laws in Thailand banning commercial surrogacy have come into effect, ending a long-running debate triggered by the Baby Gammy case in 2014.

New laws banning commercial surrogacy in Thailand have come into effect this week, ending access previously available to foreigners and gay couples.

The new laws mark an end to a debate over commercial surrogacy triggered in 2014 after a Western Australian couple left a surrogate twin boy behind in Thailand when they were told he was suffering from Down's syndrome. They took home his healthy sister, Pipah.

The child, known as Baby Gammy, is now an Australian citizen, lives with his Thai surrogate mother, Pattaramon Chanbua, and is supported by financial aid from a special fund in Australia.

The initial controversy triggered an immediate backlash in Thailand, forcing commercial surrogate operators to close shop.

Under the new law, a couple, a man and a woman, must be legally married for at least three years with one or both holding Thai nationality.

The surrogate mother is required to be a sibling of the couple, but not the parents or the couple's children. The surrogate woman must also have her own child and have her husband's consent.

If the woman is not a relative of the couple, the woman needs to meet regulations laid down by the Thai public health ministry.

Public Health Minister Rajata Rajatanavin said foreign couples would no longer be able to seek surrogacy services in Thailand.

Homosexuals are no longer allowed to access the service because Thailand has not yet legalised same-sex marriage, Rajata told The Nation newspaper.

But while the restrictions are in place preventing foreigners seeking surrogacy, they are able to undergo other artificial fertilisation techniques for a woman to conceive.

Local media reported more than 2000 foreign couples had been coming to Thailand each year for commercial surrogacy services.

After the initial ban on commercial surrogacy, Australian officials negotiated a transition period enabling up to 150 Thai women carrying children of Australian couples to give birth.

Thai Public Health Ministry deputy permanent secretary Amnuay Gajeena said there were 45 clinics providing surrogacy services in Thailand, with six already shut down, with authorities making several arrests.

Anyone who breaks this law will be punished with up to 10 years' jail or a fine not exceeding 200,000 baht ($A8000). The selling of sperm, ovum and embryos are also banned, Mr Amnuay said.

Sources: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/07/31/new-thai-surrogacy-law-bans-foreigners

All Bark, No Brains: The View Talks Gay Weddings, Canine Groomsmen and Surrogacy

July 31st marked The View’s 7th annual “Mutt Show.” And according to co-host Raven-Symoné, gay former boy-band star Lance Bass was the “perfect guest to have” because Bass and his “husband” have 3 dogs.

“And they were your bridal party?” Symoné queried. (‘Wedding party’ might have been the better term, Raven, as there is no bride, but then again, weddings have historically required a bride as well...) “I was so excited that all my dogs could make it to the wedding,” Bass answered, “because my dream was to have my dogs walk down the isle.” Oh, goodness.

Later in the interview, Symoné announced, “Let me just talk and give you props that you were the first gay couple to get married on American television…that’s amazing.” A thunderous applause from the audience ensued. “It was very, uh, very special to be a part of that history…you know, we got to show the world a very loving story that I think people needed to see.”

“Ahh, you were so in love,” co-host Rosie Perez gushed, recollecting the 90-minute “historical wedding” aired by the E! channel.

Then “conservative” co-host Nicole Wallace chipped in. “You guys are obviously still very much in the honeymoon phase, but I saw your dog family, were you guys thinking of expanding to the two-legged variety?”

“Oh, definitely,” Bass answered. “That’s the one thing that I love about my husband is, you know, we had that conversation when we first started dating—kids, cause, I want to be a father. He would be the best, best dad ever. Uh, so, you know maybe three or four years, you know, not right now.”

“If you need a surrogate, I’m here,” co-host Michelle Collins piped in.

Yes, friends, tune in next week for more intelligent discussion on The View.

Sources: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/culture/sarah-stites/2015/07/31/all-bark-no-brains-view-talks-gay-weddings-canine-groomsmen