well so it has finally been reported in the papers today that Bollywood actor Shah Rukh khan has become a father of a boy through surrogacy,apparently the baby was born pre term and needed to stay in the NICU for nearly two months.
the TImes of India carried an article http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/relationships/parenting/Surrogacy-is-an-alternative-to-adoption/articleshow/20892864.cms
trying to demystify surrogacy.
now the same press was Anti surrogacy and screaming Exploitation just a few days back but now all of a sudden Surrogacy is this boon to mankind and infertile couples! i cant understand one thing though,if a regular person/couple has a baby through surrogacy they are exploiting poor illitrate women!! and if a bollywood superstar has a baby through surrogacy there is no mention of exploitation?
the media has now declared truce with actor and are now forgiving him for having allegedly had the surrogate mother undergo a Gender detection test in early pregnancy because he wanted a male child!! Gender selection during pregnancy is a crime in India and attracts a jail term of 2 years for all parties involved!so Khan being Mr.Money bags has gotten away with breaking a major law of the land and will get away scot free because of who he is!!
one other glaring error i found in the article where the lawyer is quoted as answering a query-Till when can a surrogate agreement be terminated? answer-"The intending couple can terminate the agreement within the first three months, as that is the biological period by when you can actually terminate the pregnancy"!! i was shocked to read this because this is absolutely untrue because under the The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act 1971/Amended 1975,clearly states the conditions under which a pregnancy can be ended or aborted, the persons who are qualified to conduct the abortion and the place of implementation.
Some of these qualifications are as follows:
the Times is a national newspaper and hence it is pertinent that they state facts and not glaring errors like the ones commited in this column!!
Dr.Samit Sekhar
the TImes of India carried an article http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/relationships/parenting/Surrogacy-is-an-alternative-to-adoption/articleshow/20892864.cms
trying to demystify surrogacy.
now the same press was Anti surrogacy and screaming Exploitation just a few days back but now all of a sudden Surrogacy is this boon to mankind and infertile couples! i cant understand one thing though,if a regular person/couple has a baby through surrogacy they are exploiting poor illitrate women!! and if a bollywood superstar has a baby through surrogacy there is no mention of exploitation?
the media has now declared truce with actor and are now forgiving him for having allegedly had the surrogate mother undergo a Gender detection test in early pregnancy because he wanted a male child!! Gender selection during pregnancy is a crime in India and attracts a jail term of 2 years for all parties involved!so Khan being Mr.Money bags has gotten away with breaking a major law of the land and will get away scot free because of who he is!!
one other glaring error i found in the article where the lawyer is quoted as answering a query-Till when can a surrogate agreement be terminated? answer-"The intending couple can terminate the agreement within the first three months, as that is the biological period by when you can actually terminate the pregnancy"!! i was shocked to read this because this is absolutely untrue because under the The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act 1971/Amended 1975,clearly states the conditions under which a pregnancy can be ended or aborted, the persons who are qualified to conduct the abortion and the place of implementation.
Some of these qualifications are as follows:
- Women whose physical and/or mental health were endangered by the pregnancy
- Women facing the birth of a potentially handicapped or malformed child
- Rape
- Pregnancies in unmarried girls under the age of eighteen with the consent of a guardian
- Pregnancies in "lunatics" with the consent of a guardian
- Pregnancies that result are a result of failure in sterilisation
the Times is a national newspaper and hence it is pertinent that they state facts and not glaring errors like the ones commited in this column!!
Dr.Samit Sekhar
