Five days after she left her infant at the passport office here, an American woman has been asked by officials to produce her husband to take a DNA test to confirm their parenthood or legally adopt the child born through surrogacy.
J Perllinda Vanburen Green caused a flutter at the passport office here on January 25 when she left the spot without taking the baby in protest against the so-called delay in issuing a passport to the child.
The baby was wrapped in clothes and left in the veranda.
The police, after examining some documents left in a bag along with the baby, traced her to the nearby Rama Fertility Centre. The American married a Jamaican 15 years ago but could not conceive. She lives with her husband in Jamaica.
The 40-year-old woman, however, took back her son after the police promised her to secure the travel documents at the earliest.
Ms. Green had applied for the passport under the Tatkal scheme for the baby born on December 7, last year.
The American could not secure a Jamaican passport for the baby as there is no Jamaican embassy either in Hyderabad or in Delhi. She approached the honorary consul of the Jamaican government in Delhi, but was asked to meet the Passport Officer in Hyderabad.
The issue arose as passport can be issued only if at least one biological parent is an Indian.
“The lady has no biological connection with the baby. According to the ICMR guidelines, the parents should undergo DNA testing to confirm whether they are the real parents or not,” Regional Passport Officer K Srikar Reddy told PTI today.
“She is saying that the baby was born by the sperm of her husband. But who will confirm? Only a DNA test will confirm. The sperm could be anyone else’s. The father has to come here or may be they can match (without the father visiting India),” he said.
The American woman’s husband, who is a Jamaican, has never visited India and she did not give too many details about him, the officer said.
“Ms. Green is an American national and applied passport for her child. After scrutiny of documents, we found out that the baby is a surrogate one. The egg donor is from Andhra Pradesh and the sperm is of her husband. The husband never visited India and she brought the sperm on her own. She has entered into an agreement with a hospital, and hired the services of an anonymous egg donor and a surrogate mother,” Mr. Reddy said.
As the woman who donated the egg remains anonymous, the American woman will have to make her husband take the DNA test or adopt the child legally if they are not willing to undergo the DNA test, the officer said.
“As per contract, the egg donor is anonymous. How can we prove that the anonymous donor is Indian? Names cannot be revealed in such cases. So the only way is DNA testing to prove parenthood of the father or they have to adopt the child. Once they adopt the child, we will issue travel documents,” he said.
“This baby is born on Indian soil, we have to handover the baby to the rightful parents. For that, there should be DNA testing to prove the link,” he added.
