NEWS...
After record numbers of subscribers to Europe’s first Surrogacy Centre based in Essex and Manchester UK, the British Surrogacy Centre has had to draft in extra social workers and case workers to cope with demand.
Advising on all aspects of the surrogacy journey; from contracts with surrogates and egg donors to giving advice on immigration problems for those stuck out in India and the Ukraine on getting back into the UK with their babies, the Centre has been inundated with hundreds of calls from couples and singles all over the UK.
70% of the callers and those interested in pursuing their surrogacy, have been from the gay community.
Ben Joslin, a student Social Worker, is one of the new recruits, currently working as a case worker, but will continue with the Centre when he qualifies as one of the full time social workers there. Ben said , “It’s amazing how many people out there want to utilise the services of surrogacy. I have been amazed how many gay couples are interested in becoming parents and I look forward to working with many couples and singles over the next few months to get them on their way.”
Since starting at the Centre this month, Ben has been working with couples from the UK who have surrogates currently in the USA, India and the Ukraine. “I have been trying to give advice to couples who are currently stranded in India who just cannot get their babies home. At this moment in time, we have just over 20 couples who are stuck; they’re trying to work out passport applications and visa requirements; it really has been a nightmare for them.”
Dan and Phil, a gay couple who went through their civil service last October in Kent are one of those couples. “We have been in Hyderabad now for over a month with our twin girls. We have tried to get help from the British Consulate in Hyderabad but the paperwork is taking so long to process. The babies do not even qualify for an Indian passport, even though they were born in India because they were born through surrogacy. The Indian government do not recognise them as citizens so it is up to the couple to get them registered with the country that the intended parents are from,” said Dan, a Senior Lecturer in Medicine at a London Medical University.
His Partner Phil, a leading lecturer in Business Law, added, “We are stuck in a country that only recognises one of us as the parent of our babies, we are living out of suitcases and have no idea when this will be sorted out, all we want to do is leave here and take our babies home to Kent.”
This is just one of the many cases that the British Surrogacy Centre is trying to highlight in a hope that people considering surrogacy will look into it more carefully before just jumping in with both feet.
Another recent case Ben was working on highlighted the cases of pimps around India and the Ukraine where they were forcing their prostitutes to carry babies for Western couples as surrogates because they could make more money having the women carry babies than having them have sex with men for money.
Ben said, “It’s shocking to see this kind of exploitation in women on any scale but on such a large scale as has been identified by the British Surrogacy Centre is extremely disturbing. We have to force governments around the world to look at their surrogacy laws and take into account the fact that childless couples are using surrogacy as an option and in some cases are willing to do anything they can to have a baby and that may well also include breaking the law. With this in mind, we must bring current UK laws into the twenty first century and insist that proper checks are carried out, not only on the surrogates and their living/personal situation but also on the Intended parents.”
One of the main problems that Ben has seen over the past couple of months has been the amount of money prospective gay parents have thrown at becoming parents, he said, “Some couples have sent money to agents and individuals around the world, only to find all contact broken off within days of the money being sent. Some couples and single gay men have been left tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket. If proper checks and services were in place to accommodate managed commercialization of surrogacy, we could monitor where the money was going and that it was actually going to a proper business rather than everything being under the table so to speak.”
The British Surrogacy Centre specialises in surrogacy and egg donation, project managing the surrogacy process from its offices in the USA but keeps local offices in Essex and Manchester to accommodate the needs of the local people. With over 14 years of experience in Surrogacy and Egg donation, the founders of the Centre, the UK’s first Gay Dads by surrogacy, Barrie & Tony Drewitt-Barlow are also on hand to help give advice and to point prospective parents on their way.
Advising on all aspects of the surrogacy journey; from contracts with surrogates and egg donors to giving advice on immigration problems for those stuck out in India and the Ukraine on getting back into the UK with their babies, the Centre has been inundated with hundreds of calls from couples and singles all over the UK.
70% of the callers and those interested in pursuing their surrogacy, have been from the gay community.
Ben Joslin, a student Social Worker, is one of the new recruits, currently working as a case worker, but will continue with the Centre when he qualifies as one of the full time social workers there. Ben said , “It’s amazing how many people out there want to utilise the services of surrogacy. I have been amazed how many gay couples are interested in becoming parents and I look forward to working with many couples and singles over the next few months to get them on their way.”
Since starting at the Centre this month, Ben has been working with couples from the UK who have surrogates currently in the USA, India and the Ukraine. “I have been trying to give advice to couples who are currently stranded in India who just cannot get their babies home. At this moment in time, we have just over 20 couples who are stuck; they’re trying to work out passport applications and visa requirements; it really has been a nightmare for them.”
Dan and Phil, a gay couple who went through their civil service last October in Kent are one of those couples. “We have been in Hyderabad now for over a month with our twin girls. We have tried to get help from the British Consulate in Hyderabad but the paperwork is taking so long to process. The babies do not even qualify for an Indian passport, even though they were born in India because they were born through surrogacy. The Indian government do not recognise them as citizens so it is up to the couple to get them registered with the country that the intended parents are from,” said Dan, a Senior Lecturer in Medicine at a London Medical University.
His Partner Phil, a leading lecturer in Business Law, added, “We are stuck in a country that only recognises one of us as the parent of our babies, we are living out of suitcases and have no idea when this will be sorted out, all we want to do is leave here and take our babies home to Kent.”
This is just one of the many cases that the British Surrogacy Centre is trying to highlight in a hope that people considering surrogacy will look into it more carefully before just jumping in with both feet.
Another recent case Ben was working on highlighted the cases of pimps around India and the Ukraine where they were forcing their prostitutes to carry babies for Western couples as surrogates because they could make more money having the women carry babies than having them have sex with men for money.
Ben said, “It’s shocking to see this kind of exploitation in women on any scale but on such a large scale as has been identified by the British Surrogacy Centre is extremely disturbing. We have to force governments around the world to look at their surrogacy laws and take into account the fact that childless couples are using surrogacy as an option and in some cases are willing to do anything they can to have a baby and that may well also include breaking the law. With this in mind, we must bring current UK laws into the twenty first century and insist that proper checks are carried out, not only on the surrogates and their living/personal situation but also on the Intended parents.”
One of the main problems that Ben has seen over the past couple of months has been the amount of money prospective gay parents have thrown at becoming parents, he said, “Some couples have sent money to agents and individuals around the world, only to find all contact broken off within days of the money being sent. Some couples and single gay men have been left tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket. If proper checks and services were in place to accommodate managed commercialization of surrogacy, we could monitor where the money was going and that it was actually going to a proper business rather than everything being under the table so to speak.”
The British Surrogacy Centre specialises in surrogacy and egg donation, project managing the surrogacy process from its offices in the USA but keeps local offices in Essex and Manchester to accommodate the needs of the local people. With over 14 years of experience in Surrogacy and Egg donation, the founders of the Centre, the UK’s first Gay Dads by surrogacy, Barrie & Tony Drewitt-Barlow are also on hand to help give advice and to point prospective parents on their way.
Featured on You Tube....
What do children call their gay parents?
Elton John and David Furnish have plumped for Daddy and Papa. But the choices are endless ...
Julie Bindel, www.guardian.co.uk,
Monday 31 January 2011 Link to guardian article
It is official. The baby son of Elton John and David Furnish will refer to his parents as "Daddy" and "Papa" respectively once he gurgles his first words. It's certainly less confusing than the choice of lesbian couple Nic and Jules in the film The Kids are All Right: they are both "Mom" to their kids. CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY
Monday 31 January 2011 Link to guardian article
It is official. The baby son of Elton John and David Furnish will refer to his parents as "Daddy" and "Papa" respectively once he gurgles his first words. It's certainly less confusing than the choice of lesbian couple Nic and Jules in the film The Kids are All Right: they are both "Mom" to their kids. CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY
Gay Couple to open surrogacy centre in Essex
Two dads from Essex who became the first
gay couple in the UK to have surrogate children are to open a
surrogacy centre to advise others.
By Oliver Rogers - BBC Essex
Link to BBC Local Essex article
Tony and Barrie Drewitt-Barlow have had five children via surrogate mothers and aim to guide people through the surrogacy process. Based in Maldon, the British Surrogacy Centre, opens in February. Barrie told BBC Essex: "The idea came from us wanting to help other infertile couples, gay or straight."
"Over the years we have managed to build a database of surrogates and eggs donors, along with centres in around the USA and India, that have very good statistics," he said. CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY
Link to BBC Local Essex article
Tony and Barrie Drewitt-Barlow have had five children via surrogate mothers and aim to guide people through the surrogacy process. Based in Maldon, the British Surrogacy Centre, opens in February. Barrie told BBC Essex: "The idea came from us wanting to help other infertile couples, gay or straight."
"Over the years we have managed to build a database of surrogates and eggs donors, along with centres in around the USA and India, that have very good statistics," he said. CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY
