UK mom will have to adopt her kids
Shyam Bhatia in London | February 02, 2004 18:14 IST  rediff.com

A 26-year-old Indian beautician whose twins were born by surrogacy in India will have to formally adopt them before they can be allowed to enter the UK.

British officials in London have confirmed that Lata and Akash Nagla will have to file adoption papers for their twins, Neal and Nandine, before they can return home to their biological parents to Ilford, east of London.

The children were born by caesarian section two weeks ago, after Lata's mother, 46 year old Rhadha Patel, agreed to
be implanted with embryos created from her daughter's fertilised eggs.

Under British law it is Radha Patel who would be considered the twin's natural mother, hence the need to reallocate parental responsibility through adoption.

Once the adoption papers have been filed and accepted, a procedure that is expected to take about six weeks, the twins will be allowed to fly back to the UK with their parents.

"My mother has made my dream come true," Lata said in a statement issued from her parents' home in Gujarat. "I will never be able to thank her enough - never. It is simply a miracle and God has answered our prayers. We have been given two beautiful gifts.

"I am getting used to being a mother now. I am a bit scared of returning to Britain, but hope that when people see my lovely babies, they will only compliment me."

Lata suffers from a rare genetic condition, Rokitansky's Syndrome, that prevented her from giving birth and placed a big strain on her marriage.

Husband Akash, a shoemaker who is currently in Gujarat with his wife and the new born twins, commented: "Kids keep parents together. When I found out four years ago that we could not have children, I broke down in tears. It put a  very big strain on our marriage. There was a big risk we could not stay together."

The twins' mother and grandmother was initially reluctant to carry the children for her daughter's sake but soon overcame her inhibitions and now says she would recommend surrogacy to anyone who has problems similar to her daughter's.

"I pray that the babies have a long, happy and peaceful life and that people will not treat them any differently because of how they came into this world."

Reservations, however, have been expressed by ethics groups in the UK.

Josephine Quintavalle of Comment on Reproductive Ethics said, "It is not ideal for a grandmother to give birth to her grandchildren. There is a confusion about social roles. A grandmother and mother have very distinct roles.

"We should always be looking at what is the ideal situation. Sometimes the best way forward is to accept infertility, as harsh as that sounds."