P. Jayaram on how baby Manji reminds him of his niece's twins.

In New Delhi

THE rise of "fertility tourism" in India has led to a controversial battle for custody over a baby girl, Manji Yamada. She was born to an Indian surrogate mother and is therefore for all purposes an India citizen. Normally, a foreign couple would just fly out with such a baby within a couple of weeks after birth.

Commercial surrogacy has been legal in India since 2002 and the infant born in this manner is then legally adopted by its biological parents. In this case, unfortunately, the biological father, Dr. Ikufumi Yamada, 45, a Tokyo surgeon, and his then-wife Yuki, 41, divorced a month before Manji was born. Indian law does not allow the adoption of a girl by a single father.

Most people in Delhi share the views expressed by Dr. Hrishikesh Pai, consultant gynaecologist at Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital. "Sometimes, you have to bypass the laws, and make an exception. This is a bona fide case and the father obviously wants the baby back. Therefore, a special effort should be made to give a passport to the baby."

But the Japanese embassy officials in Delhi reportedly told Dr. Yamada they cannot issue a passport for the child without a no-objection certificate from the Indian government. He has now gone back to Japan to consult his lawyers.

"I want to take my baby home in Japan but I can't. I'm very worried about the child. I want to bring the baby to Japan because she's very small and has also become sick. So I'm very worried about her," he told a television channel.

Surrogacy and adoption are gaining in popularity in both urban and rural India. As a result, the demand for treatment for infertility, including surrogate mothers, egg donors, IVF procedures et cetera is on the rise. Not only poor, lower-middle class women, who agree to become surrogate mother because they desperately need the money, even college girls are known to donate eggs to make some quick money.

But it would be wrong to say there is no prejudice about surrogacy or adoption.

Take the case of my niece Anuradha, a journalist.

Early this year, Anu and her husband Raghu, a Major in the Indian Army, adopted twin girls from an adoption agency in Delhi. They have been married for seven years. Anu’s parents were happy; so were all of us.

But her maternal grandparents, being high-caste Brhamins, were clearly disturbed.

"Who are the children’s real parents? What caste are they from?" They had unending questions, though at the last family get together, both were fondly carrying little Sarayu and Reva.

India has seen more people coming to the country for fertility services such as surrogacy treatment because of low cost and good medical facilities like infertility treatment clinics guaranteeing "100 percent success". English-speaking doctors, who put Western patients particularly at ease, have all contributed to make India a hub for fertility tourism.

According to experts, a surrogacy treatment cycle would cost over US$50,000 in the US while it comes to only US$ 10,000 in India. If you go by Dr. Aniruddha Malpani, a fertility specialist in Mumbai, IVF treatment in India costs between US$ 4,000-5,000 while in Singapore it would cost one and half times more.