New Delhi : Delhi Police constable Naresh Kumar Yadav as realised the hard way that the law can, at times, indeed be an ass.
According to Yadav, the children, just a month apart in age but as alike in appearance as siblings would be, are too close by birth for comfort. This need not have been the case. Kartikey was born to a surrogate mother and Kiran to Yadav's wife, Shashi — a fact that doubting, illinformed officials failed to comprehend, says a report in Mail Today.
Yadav says that since the kids were born, incredulous government officials — including those in his own department — and school administrations have sent him running from pillar to post each time he needed a birth certificate, medical benefits or a school admission for his children.
And yes, doubts were raised about his moral conduct. Kartikey was born on April 23, 2007 to a surrogate mother — Yadav's sister- in- law Anita Yadav — because Shashi had been told she had a medical condition that would make it impossible for her to bear a child. But in the interim, Shashi had conceived following a surgery. That is how Kiran was born on March 26, 2007.
What had seemed then to be a windfall of good fortune for the young couple – two children born in the space of a month, when they had feared being childless – turned into a whirlwind of problems. “ No one believes that Kartikey and Kiran are my children. Some say I am joking while others make fun of me. After they were born, I faced a lot of trouble while trying to get their birth certificates. I am now tired of explaining this unusual story of a boy born to a surrogate mother and a girl to my wife,” said Yadav.
In 2007, after being married for eight years, Yadav and Shashi were still childless. None of the numerous doctors they consulted or the spiritual gurus they approached for solace could help. Two attempts at In Vitro Fertilisation ( IVF) also failed. They approached Dr Sonia Malik, another IVF expert in the city. “ Shashi was diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition that made her susceptible to painful periods and infertility. She had large endometriotic cysts on both ovaries making pregnancy impossible,” said Dr Malik. After a detailed examination, the couple was advised surrogacy along with a surgery for removal of the tumour. It was then that Anita agreed to act as a surrogate.
Meanwhile, Shashi underwent a surgery for tumour and a last gasp attempt was made for her to bear her own child. Dr Malik said the embryos were transferred to the surrogate as well as Shashi. Three embryos each were planted in both women and they conceived twins. However after eight weeks of gestation, there was a “ spontaneous demise” of one embryo in each of the women leaving them with a “ singleton pregnancy”. “ Shashi didn't want to lose a chance to have her own child. So embryos, which were conceived in the lab the same day and put in the uterus of the two women on the same day, resulted in birth of two children a month apart,” said Dr Malik.
Yadav and his wife were happy as their prayers had been answered. But their celebration was short lived. They soon learnt they would not be issued a birth certificate for their second child, Kartikey. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi ( MCD) refused to issue a certificate of birth on the grounds that no woman can deliver two babies in a month. “ I went to the Hauz Khas office of the MCD for birth registration. They initially refused to issue the birth certificate. However, I was insistent and provided the documents to prove that I was the father of Kartikey and Kiran,” said Yadav.
He said he gave the official concerned certificates procured from Dr Malik to prove his point. Finally, the municipal officer agreed to issue the documents. That seemed to be only a small part of his problems.
When it was time to get his children admitted to school, he found there was another roadblock ahead. Three schools he applied to for the admission of his children refused to acknowledge that siblings could be born a month apart and denied them admission. A school in the area, however, understood his story and took the kids in.
Perhaps the toughest problem was when he sought Central Government Health Scheme benefits for the children. It was after he told senior officials that the matter was sorted out.
The Draft Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, which lays down guidelines for the practice of surrogacy, states that birth certificates should be in the names of the intended parents, who then automatically become legal ones.
But, there is no law regarding such a case where two children are born just a month apart. As for Yadav, his troubles seem to be far from over.
“Every time I need to explain people that my children's birth was not intentional, it was God's wish that simultaneously my wife and the surrogate conceived. I couldn't kill any of my children in the womb so I let both of them take birth,” said Yadav.
Dad in trouble for kids born a month apart time he needed a birth certificate, medical benefits or a school admission for his children. And yes, doubts were raised about his moral conduct.
Kartikey was born on April 23, 2007 to a surrogate mother — Yadav's sister- in- law Anita Yadav — because Shashi had been told she had a medical condition that would make it impossible for her to bear a child. But in the interim, Shashi had conceived following a surgery. That is how Kiran was born on March 26, 2007.
What had seemed then to be a windfall of good fortune for the young couple – two children born in the space of a month, when they had feared being childless – turned into a whirlwind of problems. “ No one believes that Kartikey and Kiran are my children. Some say I am joking while others make fun of me. After they were born, I faced a lot of trouble while trying to get their birth certificates. I am now tired of explaining this unusual story of a boy born to a surrogate mother and a girl to my wife,” said Yadav.
In 2007, after being married for eight years, Yadav and Shashi were still childless. None of the numerous doctors they consulted or the spiritual gurus they approached for solace could help. Two attempts at In Vitro Fertilisation ( IVF) also failed. They approached Dr Sonia Malik, another IVF expert in the city. “ Shashi was diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition that made her susceptible to painful periods and infertility. She had large endometriotic cysts on both ovaries making pregnancy impossible,” said Dr Malik.
After a detailed examination, the couple was advised surrogacy along with a surgery for removal of the tumour. It was then that Anita agreed to act as a surrogate. Meanwhile, Shashi underwent a surgery for tumour and a last gasp attempt was made for her to bear her own child. Dr Malik said the embryos were transferred to the surrogate as well as Shashi. Three embryos each were planted in both women and they conceived twins.
However after eight weeks of gestation, there was a “ spontaneous demise” of one embryo in each of the women leaving them with a “ singleton pregnancy”. “ Shashi didn't want to lose a chance to have her own child. So embryos, which were conceived in the lab the same day and put in the uterus of the two women on the same day, resulted in birth of two children a month apart,” said Dr Malik. Yadav and his wife were happy as their prayers had been answered. But their celebration was short lived. They soon learnt they would not be issued a birth certificate for their second child, Kartikey.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi ( MCD) refused to issue a certificate of birth on the grounds that no woman can deliver two babies in a month. “ I went to the Hauz Khas office of the MCD for birth registration. They initially refused to issue the birth certificate. However, I was insistent and provided the documents to prove that I was the father of Kartikey and Kiran,” said Yadav. He said he gave the official concerned certificates procured from Dr Malik to prove his point. Finally, the municipal officer agreed to issue the documents.
That seemed to be only a small part of his problems. When it was time to get his children admitted to school, he found there was another roadblock ahead. Three schools he applied to for the admission of his children refused to acknowledge that siblings could be born a month apart and denied them admission. A school in the area, however, understood his story and took the kids in. Perhaps the toughest problem was when he sought Central Government Health Scheme benefits for the children. It was after he told senior officials that the matter was sorted out.The Draft Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, which lays down guidelines for the practice of surrogacy, states that birth certificates should be in the names of the intended parents, who then automatically become legal ones.
But, there is no law regarding such a case where two children are born just a month apart.As for Yadav, his troubles seem to be far from over. “ Every time I need to explain people that my children's birth was not intentional, it was God's wish that simultaneously my wife and the surrogate conceived. I couldn't kill any of my children in the womb so I let both of them take birth,” said Yadav.