Birth of Nayanthara-Vignesh twins raises surrogacy questions

Not everybody seems happy with Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan’s announcement of the birth of twin boys on Sunday. The new parents have not officially stated that their bundles of joy came via surrogacy, but reports suggest so. Now, questions are being raised over whether Tamil film industry’s power couple followed the procedures stipulated by Indian surrogacy laws.

Answering questions at a press conference on Monday, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian said he would direct the Directorate of Medical Services to conduct an inquiry. “Surrogacy is subjected to a lot of debate. But the law allows individuals to involve in surrogacy if they are above 21 and below 36 years of age, with the approval of the family,” he explained.

Were surrogacy laws followed?

Commercial surrogacy is now banned in India. The revised surrogacy regulation law that came into effect from January 25, 2022, states that the surrogate should be married at least once and have her own child. The law now allows only altruistic surrogacy, wherein the parents cannot pay the surrogate anything barring her medical expenses and insurance cover.

Also read: Couples opting for surrogacy to buy 3-yr health insurance for surrogate mothers: Govt

After dating for more than seven years, Nayanthara and Vignesh got married in June 2022 at a luxury resort in Mahabalipuram. Top names of the Indian film industry attended the gala ceremony. The guests included Rajinikanth, Karthi, Atlee, Vijay Sethupathi, Mani Ratnam, and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who is working with Nayanthara in “Jawan.”

On Sunday, Vignesh shared pictures on social media of Nayanthara and him kissing the tiny feet of the babies. “Nayan & Me have become Amma & Appa. We are blessed with Twin Baby Boys. All Our prayers, our ancestors’ blessings combined with all the good manifestations made, have come 2gethr in the form Of 2 blessed babies for us. Need all ur blessings for our Uyir & Ulagam. Life looks brighter & more beautiful (sic),” Vignesh wrote.

(With agency inputs)