Interviewer: 60 Minutes presents a live interview with Dr. Gautam Allahbadia.
Interviewer: Dr. Allahbadia thank you for talking to us tonight, in our live online chat room. .
Dr Allahbadia: Thank you very much for having me here tonight. .
Interviewer: Now we will go to the questions from our guests. .
ness asks: Are there any restrictions at all placed on prospective parents? .
Dr Allahbadia: The prospective parents have to be disease free they cannot be carriers of any infectious disease. The second thing is for surrogacy the prospective mother should have a condition that precludes her to carry a pregnancy to term, she is therefore a candidate to surrogacy in India.
srasheed6 asks: I want to ask about the women who carry the surrogates. Are they really looked after or are they just used by people who want babies?
Dr Allahbadia: The women either stay with their own family or they stay at a surrogate hotel. They are well looked after and have care to look after them, they have nurses who visit them in the morning and they also have a separate hospital a surrogacy hospital they visit on a weekly or fortnightly basis. They are cared for by a high risk obstetrician in the hospital.
Elisabeth asks: Do you not feel that the wellbeing of children should come first? Is it not morally right that a child should not be able to know who its parents are.
Dr Allahbadia: In India the rules are such that anonymity is the preferred route by the surrogate. The surrogate and their family would not like to have their identity known. We have to respect the rights of the surrogate and we tell the prospective parents right from the start that anonymity is important. Only if the prospective parents are happy with rules will we proceed with the surrogacy.
musicmum asks: Can you send sperm and ovums from the parents? I have my ovaries but no uterus to carry a child.
Dr Allahbadia: Yes you can be a candidate. You can send sperm by DHL, but you would have to have travel to Mumbai to have your eggs harvested. Or you can have invitro in Australia and the embryo sent to us here.
blunt asks: I have 2 eggs already in IVF in Australia that have been frozen and are inseminated. Would these be able to be used?
Dr Allahbadia: If these are embryos then definitely you can send them and we can use them for surrogacy.
blunt asks: What would the cost be approximately for your various services?
Dr Allahbadia: If you write to us at rotundachr@gmail.com we will send you the fee sheet and information.
BerraGuy asks: How does one go about applying to be part of this Indian surrogacy process and what do you have to do to prepare? Would we need to find the egg donor? And was the cost to the two guys in Melbourne $40000 because it was twins or is it the same for only one baby?
Dr Allahbadia: Please write to rotundachr@gmail.com and we can give you a detailed reply. We can find the egg donor for you. If you prefer an Australian or Caucasian donor then you would have to get the donor to India. The cost for twins or single babies is from $23,000 to $25,000, I am unsure what the gentlemen in Melbourne paid. Again for more details you can contact rotundachr@gmail.com
musicmum asks: When you bring the children back to Australia do you have to adopt them? Even if it is your own DNA?
Dr Allahbadia: I am not qualified to answer this you would have to talk to an immigration lawyer in Australia.
trinsa asks: Is there a waiting list for your services?
Dr Allahbadia: Yes we have a 4 to 6 weeks waiting list.
benking asks: What is the process to start the surrogate program? Do you need to go to India first or do you send an email to the Rotunda clinic?
Dr Allahbadia: Just send an email and we shall guide you to the website http://iwannagetpregnant.com and there is about 1 hours reading material on the website. You can then send us an email to rotundachr@gmail.com and we can go forward from there.
mollyobrien asks: It concerns me because I'm not quite sure what the screening process is, but it sounds like any man can buy their own children, however this also means that paedophiles could use this service, do you have any screening in place?
Dr Allahbadia: We go by the ICMR guidelines and they have very strict guidelines which allow surrogacy. If you have the right conditions they it's ok. If we feel someone is asking us for perhaps cosmetic reasons or something irregular, we would refuse. We would refer them back to IVF clinics in Australia.
sally07 asks: Approximately how long does the process take from the initial contact to receiving the child/children?
Dr Allahbadia: About a year from first contact to receiving the baby.
Mel28 asks: Hi I'm a 28 year old female who has endometriosis as a young child At the age of 15 I had a hysterectomy I still have my ovaries I am in a stable relationship I want a child so bad is there any help for me?
Dr Allahbadia: Yes you are an ideal case for surrogacy and you should write to us and we can go from there.
debster asks: Dr Allahbadia, is it too late to use my own eggs for surrogacy at 38? What happens if we use them and the eggs don’t take with the surrogate?
Dr Allahbadia: First we have to be certain by blood tests your eggs are healthy to give life to a baby. If the eggs do qualify for this procedure and we implant with no success then we would donor eggs.
doughi asks: I am gay, live in Sydney, and want a baby, how easy is it? What health information do you need?
Dr Allahbadia: If you write to us we would ask you to do the appropriate screening in Australia and mail it back to us and we can let you know from there if it is ok for you to go ahead. You would need blood tests and infectious disease tests done and the results sent to us. We can then advise you on the best way for you with surrogacy and egg donation.
hello asks: Will anything change in the upcoming years in regards to your service stopped? It sounds like an amazing concept. Thanks for helping people unable to have children.
Dr Allahbadia: There are women’s organisations that are lobbying for this service to be available only for Indians. Currently the Government allows it to be available for people from all over the world. Whether this will continue we really don't know, it will depend on our Government. For the present it is available to all nationalities.
chris asks: What is the process for delivering eggs and sperm for a woman to carry our child?
Dr Allahbadia: Please write to us at rotundachr@gmail.com and we will send you all the relevant information and explanations.
cowgirlcook asks: I am an infertile single woman can you allow me to have a child through surrogacy?
Dr Allahbadia: An infertile single woman does not require surrogacy to complete a family all you require is donor insemination and you are most welcome to write to us and we can provide you with both Indian and Caucasian sperm donors.
janet asks: I would just like to congratulate Dr Allahbadia. Does your clinic perform Egg retrieval on the intended mother and is there an age restriction?
Dr Allahbadia: There are no age restrictions and we perform egg retrieval and all the other procedures at our clinic.
Belinda asks: Would someone with unexplained infertility and have been through ISCI IUI and IVF. Am I a candidate?
Dr Allahbadia: Yes most definitely. That kind of person would be a most appropriate candidate.
pickard01 asks: How do you select a surrogate mother? Do you have them on file with their profile for prospective parents to choose from?
Dr Allahbadia: That is correct. We have on our records about 15 women who are willing to be surrogate mothers they are checked mentally and physically to determine they are healthy. After a thorough screening they are then available. Prospective parents are offered a choice from about 4 or 5 surrogates and they can chose from there which one they would prefer.
cahill asks: What does the birth certificate of the baby state, who are listed as the parents? Who would be the mother ?
Dr Allahbadia: The birth certificate according to Indian law only carries the name of the parents, the name of the surrogate mother is not listed on the birth certificate.
baby asks: What is the process for selection of donor eggs?
Dr Allahbadia: We have on our records about 40 egg donors who are fully investigated physically and mentally. Once they are screened we put up 4 or 5 profiles on our website each month and we can offer you up to 10 to 15 profiles to choose from when it comes time for you to select an egg donor.
hobbitpoo asks: Can the mothers change their mind and keep the baby?
Dr Allahbadia: According to Indian guidelines the surrogate really does not get an opportunity to change her mind as she doesn't even see the baby. As soon as the baby is delivered it is removed from her presence. The hospital has rules that the parents will legally take charge of the baby directly after birth.
surfbetty40 asks: What happens if there is a abnormality with the foetus and we as the bio parents would want to terminate? Is our request adhered to?
Dr Allahbadia: In India termination is allowed up to 20 weeks of gestation and it is going to be increased this year to 23 weeks. When we find a surrogate she signs that if the pregnancy is abnormal and the parents wish to terminate she will agree. However, the surrogate normally gets paid for all three trimesters in this event.
jennyq asks: Do you feel that programs like your benefit the families of the Indian surrogates?
Dr Allahbadia: Yes. Most of them improve their lives in a way if they had not joined the programme. It is like stepping into a new world to be able to afford a house of their own, or schooling for their children. It really changes their life completely.
Tangles asks: Hi, I was very interested in your story as I am a single woman who went through early menopause - but would dearly love to have a child. As I have no egg to donate - and no sperm I am wondering whether there is any hope for me even in a surrogacy process such as this. Tangles .
Dr Allahbadia: You require donor egg IVF and if you write to us we can arrange to provide a sperm donor and an egg donor for you. So, yes there is hope for you to have a baby with the help of surrogacy.
maybe asks: How is the process having the child taken out of India, is there an immigration issue here or is that something that visa's etc beforehand.
Dr Allahbadia: You just have to write to the Australian High Commission in New Delhi for current laws and speak to an immigration lawyer in Australia - the Australian Government will organise all of that and help you with the details.
Downunder asks: Hello Dr Allahbadia. How is the egg donor sourced? Can we know about the donor, her family illnesses or anything else?
Dr Allahbadia: You can refer to our website for the information on how our egg donors are screened, they come to us from a variety of sources including word of mouth, newspaper advertising and so forth. A photograph is available, all the medical records, except for the name of the person and their identity, everything else is available.
PaulM asks: With regard to transport of sperm, is this frozen, what volumes are required, and do you screen all sperm upon delivery i.e. do you single out the healthy sperm/survived sperm?
Dr Allahbadia: If we get delivery from Australia, we require the IVF centre to have screened the sperm donor. The onus on the screening rests with the IVF centre in Australia. We insist on the tests for detecting for any abnormalities.
trinsa asks: Is twins just the luck of the draw? Or do you generally implant two?
Dr Allahbadia: We put in a maximum of 4 embryo and the rate of twins about 16% to 18%.
MamaChipmunk_419 asks: Is there a program that the surrogate mother goes unto help ensure a healthy baby (e.g. a nutritious diet)?
Dr Allahbadia: To ensure the surrogate mother gets the best of everything in pregnancy we encourage them to stay in a hostel for the 9 months. They are roomed in directly after the embryo transfer. They then have first class care including nursing.
Andrew13_ asks: How do we make the payments to the clinic, is it all upfront?
Dr Allahbadia: If you go to the website there are several options such as bank transfers, direct debits, credit cards, PayPal and also in the clinic you can pay in cash if you prefer. Credit cards do carry a 4% surcharge. It is all done legally of course.
tajyl asks: if you have your own viable eggs and sperm can you still use surrogacy in India?
Dr Allahbadia: Yes you can, most definitely. Write to us with your case history and previous medical papers and we can guide you from there with the process.
Interviewer: Unfortunately, we are out of time, do you have anything else you would like to share before we finish tonight?
Dr Allahbadia: If anyone wants to contact me you can contact me directly now at drallah@gmail.com. Or you can chat to me on Skype, my Skype address is drallah. I will be online now for the next 4 hours or so if anyone would like to contact me. I would like to thank you for having me tonight and thank you for your questions. Please feel free to contact me at any time.
Interviewer: Once again thank you and goodnight.
Interviewer: This concludes our chat with Dr. Gautam Allahbadia, Sunday May 24, 2009.
