Indian Fertility Treatment and Babies to the Rescue For British Couples
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Dangers of being implanted with large numbers of embryos aside, the trend could raise ethical issues and spell disaster for national identity. Shilpa Shetty’s brand of curry and papadum could be more ingrained in the British mentality than first thought.
The world is truly into globalisation with the latest trends in fertility treatment. An Indian baby was born to a white couple who had sought fertility treatment and embryos in an Indian clinic after 18 years of trying unsuccessfully to conceive. The result was a baby with big, brown eyes, a dark complexion, and dark hair. She was a far cry from her white parents and auburn-haired mother. Yet the parents were ecstatic and so grateful for their baby that they were planning to go back for a second child. They claimed that the Indian clinic was clean, professional, and far more effective than the National Health Service (NHS). The couple discovered the fertility clinic in Mumbai, India, from the Internet after a series of heart-breaking miscarriages, artificial insemination, hormone treatment and an unsuccessful cycle of IVF in Britain. While UK doctors are bound to match the donor embryo as closely to the family as possible, the Mumbai doctors implanted the mother-to-be with six embryos, two of her own which were of low quality and four donated from Indian couples. And the whole process only cost the British couple £2,700 as opposed to £8,000 in UK.
Dangers of being implanted with large numbers of embryos aside, the trend could raise ethical issues and spell disaster for national identity. Shilpa Shetty’s brand of curry and papadum could be more ingrained in the British mentality than first thought. It would be in its future generation’s blood and genetic instincts. Although UK does not prohibit the transplantation of embryos from other races, experts have raised concerns about the psychological and social impact on the child if he/she were to look significantly different from the parents. Thus, the UK has trod cautiously where India has rushed in. After all, the worldwide fertility tourism market is expected to be worth £3 billion a year.
Will the UK be invaded by dark-haired and dark-skinned Indian-looking children born to impeccable British parents? The result is both exciting and unpredictable.
Wrinkledfrog embryos