For 31-year-old Reema (name changed), a resident of Mumbai, it was a cruel blow when doctors told her she could not have a baby due to cancer of the uterus. Post hysterectomy, she went into depression.

That’s when Reema’s mother decided to take the matter in her hands and, instead of a grandmother, chose to be a surrogate mother. Reema’s sister donated her ova and the egg was fertilised with sperm taken from Reema’s husband. The embryo was then implanted in 56-year-old Reema’s mother’s womb. She is now 14 weeks’ pregnant.

The entire family is staying in Pune for a year till Reema’s mother delivers the baby under the guidance of the Ruby Hall Clinic’s IVF centre.

With infertility rates pegged at 14-15 per cent in the country, IVF centres like Ruby Hall’s are common. However, Dr Sunita Tandulwadkar, Director of the IVF centre at Ruby Hall Clinic, draws a line when it comes to “providing” surrogate mothers for national or international couples.

“In most cases we advise the couple to appeal to their near and dear ones and who have had children. There is no law yet on this issue and if international couples find their own surrogate mothers, the Indian law cannot stop them,” says Tandulwadkar. So far Ruby Hall has helped 15 couples who have opted for surrogate mothers.

“We try our level best to help these couples, counsel them and try to convince them that the mother and child bonding is essential. The baby is listening to the mother while in her womb,”says Tandulwadkar.

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