Test tube baby scandal
Mon, December 10 2007
Canadian couple in test-tube baby scandal
By Mata Press Service
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Dr Anjali Malpani and
Dr Aniruddha Malpani |
The couple, identified as Amrik Singh and his wife Rupinder Kaur, has filed a complaint with the medical authorities in Jalandhar, Punjab claiming that they had approached Vardhan Medical Centre to have a child through In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) in 2005.
The claim the centre promised them a male child and charged them 500,000 rupees (about C$12,600).
The two-month IVF treatment was successful and Rupinder conceived. The centre allegedly told the couple they were going to have a son after several tests.
Amrik and his wife then returned to Canada where the couple was told by doctors that the baby was a girl and not a boy.
Rupinder delivered the baby girl in Canada last November.
The couple from Brampton, Ontario returned to India this year and confronted the operators of the Vardhan Medical Centre demanding they get their money back.
They carried with them a complaint letter notarized by a Notary Public in Brampton.
When owner Varish Vardhan refused, they filed a complaint against him.
Civil surgeon Dr J.P. Singh, upon receiving their complaint, sent three doctors to the IVF centre and has seized records in relation to the case.
“The couple’s act is equally illegal,” said Dr Singh.
Owner Varish Vardhan disputed the claims made by the Canadian couple.
“The couple was neither assured sex selection as no technique was available to this effect nor any sex determination test conducted. They were charged for IVF, which was clear from the receipts.”
Under Indian laws, ultrasound tests on a pregnant woman to determine the gender of the fetus are illegal.
But many of India’s fertility clinics continue to offer a seemingly legitimate facade for the multi-billion dollar racket of gender determination in India.
In India, female feticide is mostly linked to socio-economic factors.
It is an idea that many say carries over from the time India was a predominantly agrarian society where boys were considered an extra pair of hands on the farm.
The girl child has traditionally been considered inferior and a liability — a bride’s dowry can cripple a poor family financially.
The northern states of Punjab and Haryana have some of the worst gender ratios in India.
Researchers in India and Canada said in the Lancet medical journal that prenatal selection and selective abortion is causing the loss of 500,000 girl births a year.
Over the last decade, an increasing number of couples are heading to India in search of cheaper fertility treatments, donor eggs and surrogate mothers.
For couples looking for fertility treatment, India is an attractive destination. They can avail themselves of treatment at a relatively low cost.
It is also easier finding a surrogate mother, and the cost of renting her womb to carry the fertilized egg is a fraction of what it would be in Canada.
In-vitro fertilization treatment involves the fertilization of the egg and sperm in a test tube. Once fertilized, the embryo is transferred into the uterus of the biological mother. In some cases, where the biological mother’s medical condition does not permit her to carry the fetus, a surrogate mother does the job.
“Reproductive tourism” — as this trade is being referred to — is a booming business.
Valued at more than $450 million in India, the industry is growing at a rapid pace. While exact figures are hard to come by, it is said that the number of cases of surrogacy has doubled over the past three years.
Forerunners Healthcare Consultants, one of India’s top medical tourism outfits, offers a discount on IVF treatment packages for foreigners.
Compared to North America, IVF treatment is much less expensive in India, and the quality is as good, said Forerunners.
“This is because doctors charge much less — so that by international standards, IVF in India is very cost-effective, and quite a few patients do fly down to India for treatment and even have money left over, even after paying for air-fare! This includes all investigations, Ultrasonography, medicines and procedure of IVF during one cycle,” states a company brochure.
The surrogate-mother industry, which is an outgrowth of the in vitro fertilization business, is also booming in India.
Dr. Naina Patel of the Akanksha Fertility Clinic in Anand in the state of Gujarat said both sides benefit.
About 50 women in the area are believed to be carrying babies for foreign couples.
“Infertility is a global problem and we have its global solution,” she said.
Others believe Indian women are being exploited and may suffer long-term emotional damage from functioning as surrogates, the report said.
They say women who become surrogate mothers may also be damaging their own marriages.
Dr Anjali Malpani and Dr Aniruddha Malpani, who operate the Malpani IVF Infertility Clinic, on their website advise foreigners to be wary of bad IVF clinics.
“For example, one of the IVF clinics in New Delhi is owned by a skin specialist. This doctor, who is not even a gynecologist, offers IVF treatment. Not only are your chances of getting pregnant in a bad IVF clinic very low, you also run a major risk of losing a lot of time, money and energy,” the Malpanis write on their website.
“Blaming yourself or cursing the doctor afterwards does not help, which is why you need to be very careful when deciding which clinic in which to do your treatment,” the doctors say.
(Also see Wombs for rent in a hamlet of hope - The Asian Pacific Post Thu, March 09, 2006)
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