Lisa Ray announced in 2018 that she’s now a mum to twin daughters. The 49-year-old actor, who’s a cancer survivor, opted for surrogacy to experience motherhood. In an interview, she said, “Having been diagnosed with multiple myeloma (a form of blood cancer) in 2009, which requires me to be on a lifelong dose of medication, pre-empted the possibility for me to carry children myself. Fortunately, technology has progressed where there are choices and new possibilities for having children.”
Even in today’s day and age, there’s a stigma that surrounds surrogacy. It’s still a taboo subject, to be discussed in hushed whispers if at all you must. People opt for surrogacy for various medical and lifestyle reasons, and let’s not forget that for same-sex couples, it’s one of the few ways to start a family. When celebrities make an unconventional choice, it normalises the concept and makes it more acceptable in the society. “Hopefully, our story can give hope to others who are struggling to have kids. Life throws you both challenges and miracles, and I’m unspeakably grateful for my miracle daughters,” Lisa added.
Celebrities who chose to go for surrogacy:
On the 21st of January, the pair made this announcement on their Instagram that they have welcomed their first child through surrogacy. "We are overjoyed to confirm that we have welcomed a baby via surrogate. We respectfully ask for privacy during this special time as we focus on our family. Thank you so much."
The couple welcomed twins, Jai and Gia via surrogacy, the couple shared this happy news on Instagram, the image was captioned, "Hi everyone, I wanted to share our amazing news with all of you today. Gene & I are overjoyed & our hearts are filled with so much gratitude & with so much love as we welcome our twins Jai Zinta Goodenough & Gia Zinta Goodenough into our family. We are very excited about this new phase in our lives. A heartfelt thank you to the doctors, nurses and to our surrogate for being part of this incredible journey. Loads of love and light - Gene, Preity, Jai & Gia."
The couple announced the birth of their daughter Samisha in 2020. Shilpa mentioned in an interview as to why she decide to go down this route, "After Viaan, I did want to have another child for the longest time. But I suffered from an autoimmune disease called APLA and that came into play every time I get pregnant. So I had a couple of miscarriages so it was a genuine issue,"
The couple welcomed a son, Azad, on December 1, 2011. In a statement, they said, "This baby is especially dear to us because he was born to us after a long wait and some difficulty." They added they were advised to take the route of IVF-surrogacy because of medical complications.
In July last year, Sunny and Daniel adopted Nisha, a two-year-old from Latur. And in March 2018, the couple announced they were blessed with twins via surrogacy. "We planned and tried to have a family and after so many years our family is now complete with Asher Singh Weber, Noah Singh Weber and Nisha Kaur Weber. Our boys were born a few weeks ago but were alive in our hearts and eyes for many years. God planned something so special for us and gave us a large family. We are both the proud parents of three beautiful children," Sunny wrote on Instagram.
In April 2017, Karan Johar turned father to twins — a boy and a girl — through surrogacy. "I am ecstatic to share with you all the two most wonderful additions to my life, my children and lifelines; Roohi and Yash. I feel enormously blessed to be a parent to these pieces of my heart who were welcomed into this world with the help of the marvels of medical science," he had announced on social media. He spoke about being ready, physically and emotionally, to take on the responsibilities that ensue. "By the grace of God, I have the most caring and supportive mother who will be an integral part in the upbringing of her grandchildren and of course, friends who are family," he added.
The power couple's third child, AbRam, was born via surrogacy in May 2013. There were speculations that SRK had opted for a sex determination test. "I did not like that fact when the media spoke about the surrogacy. I hate it. They said I had [a] sex determination test, which was rubbish. I am too educated to be indulging in this nonsense. He was suffering… He was ill and people were talking about sex determination just because he is the child of a famous movie star,” Shah Rukh said. He also spoke about keeping his baby away from the limelight. "He is not meant for flashbulbs. I don’t want him to be a participant in this circus of public life that I am a part of."
The actor chose to become a single parent through surrogacy, using IVF. "Initially my parents were a little bit apprehensive whether I should announce the child to be one born through IVF and surrogacy or not. Because they were like, 'You don't know how it is going to be taken in India, why even announce it, why don't you just tell friends, then the friends will tell more friends," he said, echoing the concerns of many in the society. His parents, Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor came around soon enough. In a statement, right after Laksshya was born, they said, "We could not be more excited to be grandparents to Laksshya, and are completely supportive of Tusshar’s decision." Now, isn't that heartening?
