Sumita Singh, a 52-year old Canadian citizen of
Indian origin, had come to Ahmedabad in February to take home her surrogate
daughter.But Indian bureaucracy blocked her way to Canada.
On November 8, Mirror highlighted Sumita's plight
through the article `Blessed by tech, blocked by babu' that caught the
attention of the state government.
On Thursday, Sumita's six-month wait ended
and she finally flew back to Canada with her bundle of joy. “Despite several
attempts, we were not able to do anything for Sumita. She was staying at my
hospital with her baby, away from her husband.She finally received justice. The
baby gets to live with the parents,“ said Dr Kamini Patel, an infertility
specialist whom Sumita had approached for surrogacy.
THE CASE
After procuring citizenship from the Canadian government,
the Singhs approached Foreign Residents Registration Office (FRRO) which grants
exit visa to foreign couples' children born in India. But the process hit a
road block when FRRO held back the document for the child citing one per cent
discrepancy between the DNA reports of the child and the parents. This, when,
according to medical experts, 90 per cent match is enough to conclude that baby
belongs to a couple. According to Dr Patel, in the DNA test, there is only 1
per cent disparity which can be because of medical complications.
According to Hari G Ramasubramanian, a pioneer in the
field of Indian surrogacy law, DNA report is required while procuring the
citizenship in a country. “And if the child has received it then I don't
understand why FRRO is restricting exit permission on the report which is not
even its look after,“ he said.
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