Indian Surrogate Babies, Norwegian Mother, But No Norwegian Citizenship?

Just yesterday I wrote about the legal aspects of egg donation.

Today, I found a relevant article in the Times of India, and if you are considering a fertility treatment abroad and are European, this is VERY relevant and important information for you.

[The Norwegian woman] did not anticipate is that the now mandatory DNA test—demanded by many European consulates in the wake of the recent surrogacy controversies—revealed that she and her children were not biologically related. Bell had no genetic link with the children except that she had commissioned the surrogacy and signed a few pages at the IVF clinic stating that she would be their ‘legal mother’.

The counsul general of Norway therefore rejected Bell’s plea for travel documents and paperwork necessary step towards obtaining citizenship. Ten days ago, two Norwegian embassy representatives arrived in Mumbai and contacted Rotunda clinic. They asked for the relevant paperwork that proved Bell had commissioned the surrogacy.

This is a case that should be easy to solve – it seems very clear that she indeed used the help of a surrogate mother. However, there might be no happy end in this particular case:

The fate of the two boys is not known: the chances of them being listed for adoption are very high. “There is no way the children can be granted citizenship as per the Indian laws. It will be difficult for Bell to prove that she is their mother in any court of law,’’ said legal expert Amit Karkhanis. “Worse, the children could end up for adoption.’’

Of course, Bell could apply to adopt the children, but this is not an easy process to complete either.

You can read the original article here.

As mentioned in my previous post, whenever you work with an egg donation or infertility clinic, make sure that they make the legal aspects of the whole issue as easy as possible.

Tagged as: europe india surrogacy laws, surrogacy europe, surrogacy india