Last week has been quite a busy for us at Indian Surrogacy Law Centre. We had given out our first advertisement in a regional language newspaper calling for surrogates.. In fact, the newspaper company refused to take up this advertisement calling for surrogates. Then, we had our representatives sent to their office to educate them about the Indian Council for Medical Research Guidelines for ART Clinics authorising Law Firms to source surrogates for the Intended Parents. We had to give them a copy of the Guidelines so that they feel confident about their work. And when the advertisement was out, I have to admit that the response surprisingly good.
Chennai, earlier called as Madras, is known for being quite a classical town and a very positive response from such a traditional city was quite surprising for us. The enquiries were quite high and I saw many women leading a normal household life coming forward for being a surrogate. I think women folk in India have come to realise the truths of surrogacy and have started looking at it as a good deed. The approach of the prospective surrogates was quite encouraging, I should admit.
Counseling Procedure
We had individual counseling given to every applicant, explaining them from scratch about the legalities and the procedures involved in going as a surrogate. We also had to graphically explain to the surrogates to make sure that they are aware of what they are entering into. The toughest part in the whole session was explaining to the surrogates in their regional language to make sure that they understood everything. We did fair well in that too. We then had to make sure that they understood every aspect of surrogacy, before got the application form filled up.
The applicants seemed really happy that they attended the counselling session and kept probing for more details. This again is a sign to show that they have understood the inner aspects of surrogacy and are clear about the details of the same. I am in the process of now developing a booklet in the regional language of the surrogate applicant, which explains every aspect of the surrogacy, the legalities and even the rights of the surrogates.
I am sure that is going to take us a great step forward. I am looking forward for educating every interested woman about surrogacy. In India, the exposure to such an option is not much prevalent. We are planning to have our advertisement released in an English Daily next week. I shall keep you people posted.