Times of India
10 June 2010
By Sumitra Deb Roy
Mumbai, India

India could well be the global capital for surrogacy but many countries still have reservations about their citizens choosing an Asian country for having a child.

TOI reported on Wednesday how Paul Augustine (name changed) was stranded in Mumbai since the birth of his twins this April as he was yet to get some vital documents from the consulate. The French consulate in Mumbai said that their law prohibited surrogacy and makes it mandatory to obtain the permission of the judiciary prior to registering kids in the national register of births.

“In case of conception through surrogacy, the French parents are given consular assistance, to get the case processed. But authorisation for allowing transcription of Indian birth certificate and visa issuance is granted by the judiciary,” said an official from the French consulate in Mumbai.

Many European couples find it intriguing that their governments have a problem, particularly with India. A French gay father, who had his kids delivered through surrogacy in Mumbai, said via email that the French and Germans go for surrogacy in other countries like USA and Russia. “The government seems to be comfortable with that. They have a problem only when India is the destination,” he said.

Augustine feels it has a lot to do with the global perception that Indian women are exploited in the name of surrogacy.