‘More single men in Mumbai are opting for surrogacy’

MUMBAI: There has been an increase in single men wishing to attain parenthood through surrogacy in past two years, said city doctors, after the news of actor Tusshar

MUMBAI: There has been an increase in single men wishing to attain parenthood through surrogacy in past two years, said city doctors, after the news of actor Tusshar Kapoor becoming a father via surrogacy came out.

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Surrogacy is a form of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART), when a woman voluntarily carries and delivers a child for a couple or a single parent unable to conceive.

Although there are no laws on ART, the draft guidelines by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), country’s apex body on biomedical research, states that surrogacy is an option only for married couples who are infertile.

Dr Nandita Palshetkar, an infertility specialist at the Lilavati hospital in Bandra said that many single men are becoming vocal about their parental instincts. “Five years back, only single women came with requests of becoming mothers via surrogacy. Now, I get about ten such requests, yearly, from single men,” she said.

She added that most single men who come to her are either divorcees or have had failed relationships in the past. “A lot of them bring their own parents during consultations, to convince the doctors that they have a strong support system at home to nurture the child.” she said.

Dr Firuza Parikh, director of IVF and genetics at Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Pedder Road, who led the procedure in Kapoor’s case, said she gets about three requests from single men, every two months. “Most of these men who come in are in their late thirties as against single women who come in during their early thirties,” she said.

Doctor however, added their patients undergo a thorough background check. “A single woman who had serious temper problems came in and wanted to become a mother through surrogacy. We had to talk her out of it,” said a city based IVF specialist on the condition of anonymity.

Dr Soumya Swaminathan, director general, ICMR said that the draft guidelines have been formulated with the view of protecting the rights of surrogate mothers who are often exploited.

“There has to be a way to keep a check on people and doctors who irrationally using surrogacy as an option,” she said.