In our country, infertility and surrogacy are still taboo subjects and the awareness surrounding them is inadequate. Hence, it is a big deal for movies to explore this subject in the first place. ‘Chori Chori Chupke Chupke’ explored the subject way back and Kriti Sanon starter ‘Mimi’ did it recently.
However, an IVF (in-vitro fertilization) doctor named Yuvraj took to Instagram to share the various ways in which what was shown in the film ‘Mimi’ was factually incorrect and slammed the makers for spreading gross information.
“Being a fertility doctor myself and having catered to hundreds of cases of surrogacy over a few years now, it is appalling to see the amount of misinformation the movie presents to us. In fact, it is sad to see that the makers and the writers, before making a film on such a complex and sensitive subject have not taken even an inch of effort to research the facts, the laws, and the regulations that move around surrogacy in our country,” he said.
Mimi is the story of a couple from the US who have come to India in search of a surrogate. In Rajasthan, they come across a dancer named Mimi (Kriti Sanon) and feel that she is the perfect surrogate for them. The couple offers her Rs 20 lakhs to become a surrogate for them.
“If they would have taken 5 minutes to Google surrogacy laws in India, they would have realised that the entire movie was based on false statements and information.”
Dr Yuvraj pointed out that in November 2015, the Indian government banned non-Indian passport holders from the commission of surrogacy in India.
“As of today, the foreign couples cannot cater to surrogacy services in India,” he said.
In the film, Pankaj Tripathi’s character at first takes the American couple to an old lady, who has given birth to 12 children already and presents her as a potential surrogate.
“As per the law, any lady above 35 years of age is not allowed to become a surrogate mother. Anyone who becomes a surrogate needs to be a married lady with one living child of hers. Undergoing surrogacy by a lady involves counselling for the entire family along with her partner. Only then is she allowed to undergo surrogacy.“
Mimi’s character is a 24-year-old unmarried dancer and she becomes a surrogate mother without the knowledge and consent of her parents.
In the film, Mimi gets to know much late into her pregnancy that the child may have Down Syndrome. However, according to doctor Yuvraj:
“A Down Syndrome test is done as early as three months or 13 weeks to 16 weeks of pregnancy.”
Further in the film, the foreign couple abandons the child as they believe it has Down Syndrome. Whereas,
“Surrogacy is a legally binding contract. A couple cannot abandon the child being born via surrogacy. Such a couple can be put behind the bars for 10 years.”
The doctor finally says that in a country where infertility, surrogacy and IVF is looked down upon, he wishes that the film industry with its massive reach was more responsible in dealing with such a sensitive topic.
Have a look at the full video here:
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