Where does one draw the line with surrogacy? As the controversial procedure brings hope to many heterosexual couples, one same-sex couple has also begun a new lease of life after receiving their newborn from an Indian surrogate.
As Omer and Yonatan Gher take turns to cradle their newborn, it is not difficult to notice the peculiar parentage — baby Evyatar has not just one, but two fathers.
The gay couple from Israel were so desperate to have a child of their own, they whispered a prayer and tossed a rose into the Arabian Sea on the advice of a fortune teller.
More tangibly, Omer and Yonatan have surrogacy in India to thank for their made-in-Mumbai baby boy.
“This whole beautiful episode would never have taken place if we had not looked beyond our home country,”
32-year-old psychologist Omer said. “Same-sex couples are prohibited from legally employing surrogates in Israel.”
Like many same-sex couples that want to expand their families, the Tel Aviv-based partners found their options short back home — many countries do not permit them to adopt or have a surrogate baby.
After trawling the Internet for options, Yonatan, a 31-year-old executive director of Israel’s biggest gay rights organisation Jerusalem Open House, approached Dr Gautam Allahbadia, medical director of Rotunda Fertility Clinic — one of few practices across India offering gestational surrogacy to same-sex couples.
Straightforward
“The process is almost as straightforward as that for a heterosexual couple who needs an egg donor,” Dr Allahbadia clarified.
“We first synchronised the menstrual cycle of the egg donor and the surrogate mother. Yonatan, who was the genetic father, came to Mumbai in January 2008 to give his sperms. Two days later, an ultrasound-guided embryo transfer was done on the surrogate.”
After a fortnight, Yonatan was running down the streets of Tel Aviv from his office across to Omer’s, with a single stalk of red rose after receiving confirmation of the surrogate mother’s pregnancy.
Omer, a 32-year-old psychologist explained: “We had a code, since we didn’t know if it was one baby, twins or triplets, to place the corresponding number of roses on the desk.”
In all, Omer and Yonatan spent close to US$30,000 (S$45,491) to fulfill their dream. A quarter of that, or Rs300,000 (S$8,976) — a windfall to a lower-middle class woman in India — was paid to the surrogate mother.
“Following Omer and Yonatan’s success, I have received more than 10 gay couples who are eager to have a baby.
There has been a boom in enquiries since 2007. Our forward thinking often takes their breath away,” said Dr Allahbadia, who has handled 15 surrogacy cases for same-sex couples so far.
Disequilibrium
However, there is a disequilibrium that does not escape attention — Indian law forbids homosexuality, yet it is not illegal for gay couples to “pay for a baby”, as some critics crudely put it.
“On the face of it, this is somewhat contradictory and hypocritical. On one hand you allow gay couples to come here and have babies and on the other hand, you are criminalising sex between two consenting adults,” said Nitin Karani, trustee of Humsafar Trust, a gay couple based organisation in Mumbai.
He added: “However, as far as the issue of surrogacy is concerned, what they have done is not illegal. In fact, legally, this is possible for gay couples in India as well.
“According to existing guidelines, one doesn’t need to produce a legal certificate of marriage to have a child borne of a surrogate. This means a person who is in a gay relationship in India, can have a surrogate to deliver their baby, under the guise of a single parent.”
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