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BUNDLE OF JOY: Brad Fister with daughter- Ashton, and our senior-most Consultant, Dr. Mrs Kiran D Sekhar. |
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Brad Fister and Michael's daughter, who they named Ashton, is the first surrogate child of an American couple in Hyderabad. Fister had come to Kiran Infertility Centre last year when he donated his sperm which was fused with an egg donated by an Indian egg donor. The resultant embryo was then implanted in a surrogate mother and this entire procedure was carried out at KIC, a first such case of two dads. The child was delivered by the surrogate mother and Fister says the baby girl is his reflection with his “chin and lips’’.
For those like US citizen Brad Fister, surrogacy is a boon. An interior designer, Fister says he always wanted a baby but adoption norms in the US are difficult. He came to Kiran Infertility Centre,Hyderabad ( India) after watching an Oprah Winfrey Show episode on surrogacy. For many couples, India is also a safe haven given that commercial surrogacy was legalised in 2002. Besides, the country has an additional advantage of the biological mother not staking claim to the child.
But if half the battle was about a pregnancy clicking, the remaining half was about getting the paperwork in place. Fister, for instance, underwent a DNA test along with his daughter at the US Consulate, for the child’s birth certificate. This was followed by an interview at the Foreign Registration Office at Purani Haveli for the child’s visa. At this point even the surrogate mother was also interviewed and her consent taken.
US citizen Brad Fister (29) carefully cradled his 22-day-old baby who carries his genes but is ‘made’ at 'Kiran Infertility Centre', before he leaves for Kentucky, US, where he lives with his same-sex partner Michael. Fister said he was very happy he was leaving India with ‘his’ daughter!