ANAND: Paul, 34, a management consultant, and his 31-year-old teacher wife, Melody , from Texas in the US, were one of the foreign couples who visited Aakanksha Infertility Clinic in Anand on Thursday .A day earlier, the central government had informed the Supreme Court that it was finalizing a legislation that will restrain foreign couples from using Indian surrogate mothers.

“We have been trying to have a child for four years and have also taken treatment for infertility in the US and Bahrain but nothing worked,“ said Paul. “I knew about surrogacy because of my work in India and came to know about Dr Nayna Patel after research online. We finally visited Anand for the first time earlier this month.“

Melody is disturbed by talk of preventing foreigners from getting surrogate Indian mothers. In fact, the couple has al ready finalized a surrogate mother after medical tests.“We are hopeful that the government's stand will be reviewed,“ she said.

Anand, dubbed the world's surrogacy capital, has been abuzz for the past two days after the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), in its letter dated October 27, informed registered practitioners that surrogacy will be limited to Indian married couples only. Now all eyes are on the court's stand on the issue as its decision in the matter will affect the town.

One third of Dr Patel's 1,000 surrogate babies delivered so far belong to foreign couples. Morover, the move is going to affect over 20 couples immediately . They are at va rious stages in the surrogacy cycle -from awaiting deliveries to approval to their medical visa for surrogacy at Anand.

“We have raised objections to the move and we are hopeful that public debate will lead to a positive outcome of the issue,“ said Dr Patel.

For the foreign parents of babies born of surrogate mothers, the news about India allowing surrogacy only Indian couples is surprising. Monica, an artist from South Africa, who got her baby on Thursday morning, was in tears after seeing the girl. “India has given me a baby and I am forever attached to this land,“ she said.

Anthony , a lawyer from Canada, who got his second child through surrogacy two weeks ago, is still in Anand to complete the paperwork. “I don't believe surrogacy shows India in bad light,“ he said. “On the contrary , it shows what India can do where western countries fail.“

