The committee was set up days after the celebrity couple announced the birth of their twins; panel checked if any rules were violated.
Published Oct 26, 2022 | 7:51 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 26, 2022 | 7:58 PM
Vignesh shares the photo of twins on Instagram
Actor Nayanthara and her husband Vignesh Shivan have not violated any surrogacy norms, a three-member committee formed by the Tamil Nadu government has found.
The committee, however, found fault with a Chennai-based private hospital that facilitated the surrogacy process. The hospital has not maintained the medical records of the couple and the surrogate mother.
Based on the committee’s findings, the Health Department issued a show-cause notice to the hospital for violating the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) norms.
Days after the birth of twins by surrogacy, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian formed the committee to probe whether the celebrity couple had violated any surrogacy rules.
Doubts were raised after the couple announced the birth of their twins four months after their wedding. The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, which came into force on 25 January, prohibits unmarried couples from having children through a surrogate mother. Commercial surrogacy, too, has been banned.
The hospital had not maintained any medical records of the patients. By the time The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act of 2021 came into force, the in virto fertilisation (IVF) process had already been completed.
The committee made a direct inquiry at the hospital, and with the doctors concerned, including the gynaecologist who had assisted the surrogate during delivery.
The hospital submitted a registration certificate stating that the marriage of the intending couple — Nayanthara and Shivan — was held on 11 March, 2016. The authenticity of the marriage registration certificate was verified by the registration department.
When interviewed, the doctor who treated the couple at the private hospital said that he had provided the treatment based on the referral given by the celebrities’ family doctor in 2020.
“When inquired about the family doctor’s address, the committee was told that he had been transferred, and when contacted, the phone numbers provided were found to be not in use. Further investigation revealed that the doctor had gone abroad, so the team did not investigate the family doctor,” the Health Department said in a statement.
The committee also found that the hospital had not properly maintained the ovulatory treatment records.
According to the findings, oocytes and sperm were received in August 2020 and the fertilised eggs (embryos) formed were stored in the hospital.
The surrogate mother was not related to the couple and the surrogacy agreement was signed in November 2021 before the Act came into effect. The eggs were placed in the surrogate’s uterus in March 2022.
During the process, the surrogate received prenatal care at a private hospital in Chennai. The twins were delivered by Cesarean section on 9 October.
According to ICMR guidelines, the details of the treatment given to the couple and the documents regarding the surrogate mother’s physical condition should be properly maintained. “But the hospital did not maintain them properly,” the committee reported.
The wedding of Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan, on 9 June at ECR near Chennai, was a grand affair. It was attended by the who’s who of the film world, including Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.
Netflix is set to release a documentary titled Nayanthara: Beyond a Fairy Tale, based on the life and love story of the Tamil “Lady Super Star”.
