(Apologies for the delay in posting. We have had some technical difficulties. The following posting was intended for Tuesday.)
So, there is much to report on our progress in the past twenty-four hours.
Yesterday evening (Monday) we met with our Indian attorney, Mr. Chawla, and his associate, Ms. Bahl (Radhika), to confirm that all of our documents are ready for our meetings with the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Foreigner's Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in the coming days. This is the process for securing Cornelia's Indian visa so she can leave the country. Fortunately, and with the tremendous assistance of SCI, Mr. Chawla and Radhika, our paperwork is in order. Now we just hope that the process will go smoothly with both agencies. Our first meeting is with MHA tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.
It's our impression that the international surrogacy process in India is still a relatively new process from the Indian government's perspective. Although the medical services and the private firms providing them (like SCI) have been growing by leaps and bounds, the government seems to have not kept pace. Apparently, there aren't yet detailed guidelines, regulations or administrative codes for the process. So, much is left to the discretion of the agencies and the individual bureaucrats involved in the visa process for example. That of course makes surrogacy clients from abroad uncomfortable. However, our attorney Mr. Chawla has become the expert in the field and seemingly is largely guiding the involved agencies on the appropriate processes and steps. Even our contact at the US Embassy commented on Mr. Chawla's influence.
Today (Tuesday) we went to the U.S. Embassy to get Cornelia's passport. (Three days old and she already has a passport. I sense a lifetime of international travel . . ..) The process was pretty painless. The embassy is in a grand neighborhood in the city where most embassies are located. They boast large buildings, landscaped grounds, and wide boulevards. However, as you approach the U.S. Embassy, you're presented with a jam of honking horns, taxis, tuk tuks and private cars dropping passengers, throngs of people milling about, and lots and lots of security gaurds. Noticing the serenity of the Swiss embassy across the street we realized that having the US embassy as a neighbor is like living next to a frat house - lots of commotion all day every day
We were dropped in the middle of the crowd milling about (perhaps there was some order to it all, but it was lost on us), Cornelia bundled up in her traveling bassinette. Mike spotted the American Citizens Services line and we made our way in that direction. Fortunately, the guards must be accustomed to finding bewildered and confused U.S. citizens in the crowd and pointing them in the right direction. Once the first guard spotted us and put us on the right path, all was good. The best part? No line for US citizens. Other than moving through multiple security checkpoints (no electronic devices at all on the premises - laptops, cell phones, cameras and even iPods had to be checked outside the compound), we essentially strolled into the embassy and made our way to the American Citizens Services (ACS) office.
There we met Nancy Hamilton who handles process for getting passports for US citizens' babies born in India. She was wonderful. Really, the biggest challenge was getting Cornelia's passport picture. The picture has to include open eyes, and Cornelia was fast asleep when it was picture time. We did everything we could to get her to open her eyes – jostling, bouncing, talking, and even stripping her down hoping the cool air might rouse her a bit. ("Cool air" in India. Now that's funny.) After twenty minutes we finally got a shot with her eyes wide open. Cute!
After finishing at the embassy, we dashed back to the hospital for Cornelia's two-day check-up with Dr. Tandon. She passed with flying colors. We were most excited that she maintained her birth weight, losing only .025 grams. (Mike had warned her beforehand, "Girrrl, don't make you papas look bad.") Babies can lose up to ten percent of their birth weight in the week or so following their arrival. Given the skepticism we sensed among some at the hospital that two men could adequately care for a baby, we didn't want to show up with an undernourished three-day-old baby. Her color was good too, i.e., no jaundice. We go back at the end of the week for her next check up.
We also chatted with Dr. Tandon about surrogacy in India generally. Dr. Tandon said it's a huge business now and the government is very supportive. We mentioned that we had heard some concerns that the government might start to restrict it if it gets too big. He said the hurdle won't be the Indian government; it will be be the lack of visibility in the US and the perceptions – or frankly, the lack of knowledge – American's have of India. He said that Indian surrogacy really needs advocates in the US. He asked about our decision to consider India, and we told him that we had heard about a lot of good experiences and it helped that Ken is very familiar and comfortable with the country.
After that appointment Ken retired to the house with Cornelia and Mike zipped back to the embassy to pick up her final passport.
So, there is much to report on our progress in the past twenty-four hours.
Yesterday evening (Monday) we met with our Indian attorney, Mr. Chawla, and his associate, Ms. Bahl (Radhika), to confirm that all of our documents are ready for our meetings with the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Foreigner's Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in the coming days. This is the process for securing Cornelia's Indian visa so she can leave the country. Fortunately, and with the tremendous assistance of SCI, Mr. Chawla and Radhika, our paperwork is in order. Now we just hope that the process will go smoothly with both agencies. Our first meeting is with MHA tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.
It's our impression that the international surrogacy process in India is still a relatively new process from the Indian government's perspective. Although the medical services and the private firms providing them (like SCI) have been growing by leaps and bounds, the government seems to have not kept pace. Apparently, there aren't yet detailed guidelines, regulations or administrative codes for the process. So, much is left to the discretion of the agencies and the individual bureaucrats involved in the visa process for example. That of course makes surrogacy clients from abroad uncomfortable. However, our attorney Mr. Chawla has become the expert in the field and seemingly is largely guiding the involved agencies on the appropriate processes and steps. Even our contact at the US Embassy commented on Mr. Chawla's influence.
Today (Tuesday) we went to the U.S. Embassy to get Cornelia's passport. (Three days old and she already has a passport. I sense a lifetime of international travel . . ..) The process was pretty painless. The embassy is in a grand neighborhood in the city where most embassies are located. They boast large buildings, landscaped grounds, and wide boulevards. However, as you approach the U.S. Embassy, you're presented with a jam of honking horns, taxis, tuk tuks and private cars dropping passengers, throngs of people milling about, and lots and lots of security gaurds. Noticing the serenity of the Swiss embassy across the street we realized that having the US embassy as a neighbor is like living next to a frat house - lots of commotion all day every day
We were dropped in the middle of the crowd milling about (perhaps there was some order to it all, but it was lost on us), Cornelia bundled up in her traveling bassinette. Mike spotted the American Citizens Services line and we made our way in that direction. Fortunately, the guards must be accustomed to finding bewildered and confused U.S. citizens in the crowd and pointing them in the right direction. Once the first guard spotted us and put us on the right path, all was good. The best part? No line for US citizens. Other than moving through multiple security checkpoints (no electronic devices at all on the premises - laptops, cell phones, cameras and even iPods had to be checked outside the compound), we essentially strolled into the embassy and made our way to the American Citizens Services (ACS) office.
There we met Nancy Hamilton who handles process for getting passports for US citizens' babies born in India. She was wonderful. Really, the biggest challenge was getting Cornelia's passport picture. The picture has to include open eyes, and Cornelia was fast asleep when it was picture time. We did everything we could to get her to open her eyes – jostling, bouncing, talking, and even stripping her down hoping the cool air might rouse her a bit. ("Cool air" in India. Now that's funny.) After twenty minutes we finally got a shot with her eyes wide open. Cute!
After finishing at the embassy, we dashed back to the hospital for Cornelia's two-day check-up with Dr. Tandon. She passed with flying colors. We were most excited that she maintained her birth weight, losing only .025 grams. (Mike had warned her beforehand, "Girrrl, don't make you papas look bad.") Babies can lose up to ten percent of their birth weight in the week or so following their arrival. Given the skepticism we sensed among some at the hospital that two men could adequately care for a baby, we didn't want to show up with an undernourished three-day-old baby. Her color was good too, i.e., no jaundice. We go back at the end of the week for her next check up.
We also chatted with Dr. Tandon about surrogacy in India generally. Dr. Tandon said it's a huge business now and the government is very supportive. We mentioned that we had heard some concerns that the government might start to restrict it if it gets too big. He said the hurdle won't be the Indian government; it will be be the lack of visibility in the US and the perceptions – or frankly, the lack of knowledge – American's have of India. He said that Indian surrogacy really needs advocates in the US. He asked about our decision to consider India, and we told him that we had heard about a lot of good experiences and it helped that Ken is very familiar and comfortable with the country.
After that appointment Ken retired to the house with Cornelia and Mike zipped back to the embassy to pick up her final passport.
Dear Papa's,
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting and informative update. When did you find the time to write with Cornelia's schedule. Happy everything has gone well and that today will be an even better day with getting all the paper work done.
Love you, Grandma Connie