June is Pride Month!

It has been a busy month for me! June is Pride month and KIC had an exhibitor booth this year for the first time at Pride in San Francisco. It was my idea to give it a try and see what happens. I know pride is more of a party, but to attend the biggest second pride celebration in the world (behind Brazil) I thought why not give it a try.

I arrived in San Francisco on Friday late afternoon and was planning on taking it easy until later that evening when I met with potential clients. Unfortunately that is not the way things worked out. Being in such a rush to get to grab my bag, catch the train and get to my hotel I accidentally left my banners behind at the airport for the booth over the weekend. It wasn't until I was well along my train ride that I realized this. Once off the train I called the airport and airline lost and found with no luck. I was so upset as I literally had just gotten one of these banners made that morning in Seattle. I called the local office of the company used, but they were not able to help me. I was frantic, so I rushed to a Kinko's location. Luckily they were able to assist in getting me a temporary banner made until my nicer ones showed up. What was supposed to be a relaxing evening with a few clients then turned into me running around getting my temporoary banners made. By the time the end of the evening rolled around I was exhausted.

After the banner craziness I was able to meet up with my two client appointments for dinner. There was one couple and one single who had previously inquired about our services and lived in the area, so I invited them out. We went to dinner in my hotel and were able to talk about our program and all the services we provide. It was a great for me to get the opportunity to meet potential clients in person as I don't get to do that all the time. Most of the time I am only able to Skype or talk on the phone with clients, so I always jump at the opportunity to meet them in person. We talked about everything from the surrogates and their screening process to donors and what each is looking for. It was good to know that these potential clients had also spoken to some of our current and past clients. I think overall the meet and greet was a great success and I look forward to working with those clients in the future.

Saturday had arrived and I was up early doing last minute preparations for the start of the Pride festivities. I still had no word on my banners from the airport so I had to roll with the temporary ones. I get down to the event area around 9:30 as they wanted us set up by 10 AM. I have my booth #, but looking at the map provided was not helping. I asked about 4 different people who all just kept pointing me in the general area, but not really assisting me which was becoming very frustrating. Finally I make my way to the exhibitor volunteer booth where they were able to assist me (Jennie was my lifesaver)! I got set up to start the day not really knowing what to expect. It was a gorgeous day out and we had a great location, but I still wasn't sure what to expect and how people would react to our booth and what specific services we offered. A lot of people just read the sign and walked by while others asked what type of business we were specifically. Overall the day went well and I had about 4 genuinely interested people come and talk to me. Sunday was a little busier (the news said they expected 750k people to attend Pride). The best part was that I rec'd a phone call from the airlines on Saturday late afternoon that they had found my banners and were able to courier them over to my hotel. Sunday was warmer and busier in terms of the Pride festivities. By days end I had another handful of people who were interested in learning more about our clinic.

I saw overall it was a good move for KIC to attend Pride in San Francisco. We had recently just been featured in Advocate Magazine for our surrogacy program, so to get back in front of the people was great. Some people had read the article, so we were already some what familiar to them. I think if we decide to attend next year I would like to get something to hand out. People love free stuff whether it be pens or Pride necklaces or whatever. It is a great way to get the name of the clinic out there and have people walking about to your booth, even if it is for the free stuff (at least we would be getting them in our booth). I have a few pictured of the booth that I wanted to share.

For Original article, click here >>

Excerpts from the media coverage of Kiran Infertility Center

Designer babies, with an Indian twist

By Saritha Rai

Created September 21, 2010 06:43

Subhead:

More and more Indians want egg donors, but only if they're from the right caste.

A baby swings in a hanging basket in in Chandigarh, India, on March 27, 2010. (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

BANGALORE, India - The couple was particular: the egg donor had to be under 25, fair, beautiful and educated. But most of all, she had to belong to their caste.

In India, cutting-edge medical treatments for infertility are colliding against age-old biases about the social order.

Welcome to designer babies, with an Indian twist.

In this developing country of more than 1.3 billion, fertility treatments are a flourishing business.

According to the Mumbai-based Indian Society of Assisted Reproduction, its member clinics across India conducted an estimated 18,000 cycles of IVF treatments last year, averaging a 30 percent rate of pregnancy. But the group said that only half of India's fertility centers count themselves among its members, making the total number of IVF treatments sought last year much higher.

What makes IVF treatments particular to India, though, is that many infertile couples demand egg donors and surrogate mothers of a particular caste and sub-caste when they seek in vitro fertilization treatments or surrogacy services.

"Couples are very particular about the caste hierarchy of the prospective mother or even the surrogate carrier," said Ramana Rao, an agent in India's southwestern port city of Vishakhapatnam.

Rao recruits egg donors and surrogates to-order for childless couples and fertility clinics in cities like Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore. In contrast to the West, where medical fitness is often a key criterion for choosing egg donors, in India medical checks are done after the family is convinced about the donor or surrogate's caste background.

Caste is India's ancient system denoting a person's social standing - with the Brahmins at the top of the heap and the Dalits at the very bottom. Despite much modernization and sizzling economic growth, caste still denotes class in many parts of India and continues to touch vital aspects of life, such as marriage and politics.

India's constitution bans discrimination on the basis of caste and community. The county's last caste-based census was in 1931.

However, the Indian government's attempts to enumerate people by caste in the ongoing gargantuan census - and the controversy surrounding its efforts - proves that caste is still relevant. Those supporting the caste-based poll say it will help the government identify and target social welfare schemes to the lower rungs of the social ladder.

Among younger, urban Indians caste is increasingly a non-issue and the old social order is slowly disappearing, only to vigorously reappear in unlikely places like fertility clinics.

"Alongside looks, skin color and height and education, prospective couples look for egg donors of the same caste and religion," said Dr. Samit Sekhar, an assisted reproduction specialist in the eastern city of Hyderabad.

In Mumbai too, couples ask for similar family background. "Family background" is often the euphemism for seeking out particular castes and sub-castes that number in the hundreds in India's byzantine social system.

A good-looking egg donor of a higher caste could command anywhere between 50,000 rupees (about $1,100) to 100,000 rupees (about $2,200) whereas down the caste ladder, the prices could dip to 20,000 rupees (about $430), Rao said. He has enlisted and provided the services of 70 egg donors and 150 surrogates so far.

In Mumbai, India's commercial capital, the prices can go higher to 200,000 rupees (about $4,300). Donors are usually from poor economic backgrounds as are the surrogates. None was willing to be interviewed for this article.

Sociologist Carol Upadhya at the Bangalore-based National Institute of Advanced Studies says caste is ingrained among many Indians as that which preserves the purity of the race. "They feel caste is rooted in the body, in the genetic material," she said.

Even the highly educated want specific genes because they want to pass on the caste and community genes to their future generations, Rao said.

"Prospective parents openly advertise for egg donors and surrogates by caste in the classified sections of local newspapers," he said.

Such advertisements, listed by caste and sub-caste, are staples of the matrimonial sections in India's biggest newspapers.

For Original article, click here >>

Kiran Infertility Centre in Eight Annual NY Surrogacy Seminar and Expo by Men Having Babies

Presence of Kiran Infertility Centre as an exhibitor presenting its Surrogacy program to the participants of Eight Annual NY Surrogacy Seminar and Expo by Men Having Babies to be held on September 22, 2012 from 10:30 AM - 4:30 PM.

We wish to inform that Kiran Infertility Centre is participating in Eight Annual NY Surrogacy Seminar and Expo by Men Having Babies to be held on September 22, 2012 from 10:30 AM - 4:30 PM as an exhibitor for promoting and introducing its International Surrogacy Program. Doctors and representatives from Case Management Team of KIC will be present in the seminar. According to Dr. Samit Sekhar, Chief Embryologist and Surrogacy and IVF program Director, KIC "We offer our Surrogacy Program to Couples, Gay and Single Parents from all across the world and there are many Single Parents and Gay men from USA who have had a baby through our International Surrogacy Program". Demographic of Gay Parents and Single Parents is a substantial portion of KIC's clients all over the world and we value them as one of the most important patients and we continuously try to improvise at our end to ensure that their Surrogacy Journey with us is more comforting and an experience to remember.

Dr. Samit Sekhar further adds that, KIC'S Team will be there to speak to Intended Parents Single, Gay Parents as-well as Straight Couples who are interested in having a baby through Surrogacy in India. We will be providing counseling sessions and informational brochures to event attendees who are interested in Surrogacy. This brochure will have detailed information about KIC'S Surrogacy Program. According to Dr. Samit Sekhar, Our intention here is to register our presence in the event and introduce event attendees to our Program and inform them about how they can work directly with us in India to realize their long cherished dream of Parenthood. It is to spread more awareness about Kiran Infertility Centre's Surrogacy and Egg Donation Program, to make the attendees notice that how it is beneficial to work with Hospitals directly rather than so called Medical Tourism Agencies and how Medical Tourism Agencies Operations in India are termed Illegal.

Dr. Samit Sekhar further adds that, in our Surrogacy and Egg donation Program, we have included all Medical & Non Medical Services into a single package. By reverse integrating the processes required in one's journey towards parenthood through Surrogacy in India, through this program we intend to provide a safe, comfortable and hassle free journey to our Intended Parents. He has extended his personal invitation to all our Intended Parents from Past and present to come to our booth. You can find out more about the seminar on its website: Men Having Babies - NYC 2012

The address is as follows:

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center,
3rd Floor, 208 West 13th Street,
New York, NY 10011.

RSVP: if you are coming! You can mail us at info@kiranivfgenetic.com

You can also pre-register for the event here: http://www.menhavingbabies.org/surrogacy-seminars/ny-2012/registration/

Link: http://www.menhavingbabies.org/surrogacy-seminars/ny-2012/

Clarification from Kiran Infertility Centre about article in the daily mail Dated- 31st Aug 2012!

Clarification from the Hospital & Surrogate Mother on Article in Daily Mail on titled Our 'rent a womb' child from an Indian baby farm: British couple paying £20,000 for a desperately poor single mother to have their child" published on 31st Aug 12

There is a sustained campaign being carried out by the British press particularly the daily mail tabloid against Surrogacy in India,according to Sai Raj Jaiswal,Legal Adviser to the KIC,Hyderabad,India.this is very evident in the article published in Daily Mail on titled Our 'rent a womb' child from an Indian baby farm: British couple paying £20,000 for a desperately poor single mother to have their child" published on 31st Aug 2012. Link to the article is as below.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2196538/Our-rent-womb-child-Indian-baby-farm-British-couple-paying-20-000-desperately-poor-single-mother-child.html

He states that the article is malicious, negative, erroneous, false and contains derogatory remarks about the Surrogate Mother, Medical Facility, City of Hyderabad, India as a Country. It is a sponsored and is aimed at painting a Negative Picture of Surrogacy Treatment in India.

Few of the points listed in article are.

1) (British Couple), a middle-class Oxfordshire housewife, admitted the £20,000 deal sounded 'cold and clinical' but insisted: 'This is a business transaction.'

2) Describing the surrogate mother as 'just a vessel', the 34-year-old former estate agent added: 'There is no altruism involved on the surrogate's part: she is being paid to have our baby'.

3) They know she is 31 and has children of her own. They know her name, and that for reasons not explained — perhaps she has been widowed or deserted — she has no husband.

4) For the duration of her pregnancy she will live with other surrogates, away from her home and family, in a primitive dormitory within the clinic. It goes without saying that she is desperately poor.

5) The British Couple have not been told how much their surrogate will earn from the £20,000 cost of the treatment — clinics are loath to specify sums — but estimates range from £3,000 to £6,000.

6) 'There is no altruism involved on the surrogate's part: she is being paid to have our baby. It's a contractual arrangement.

7) India's burgeoning surrogacy industry — there are about 1,000 clinics providing surrogates for 'fertility tourists' — has been compared to a baby factory in which children are made-to-order for affluent couples who often use donated eggs and sperm to create their baby, and an Indian donor to carry it, choosing everything from their baby's eye colour to its height.

8) Impoverished cities like Hyderabad

9) Around 2,000 births to surrogates took place in India last year, and Britain supplies the largest number of clients — estimates suggest as many as half are from the UK. The fact that just 100 surrogate births were recorded in Britain last year puts the scale of the Indian operation into perspective.

These statements are derogatory in nature and were made without any proof. No effort was made by anyone from Daily Mail to verify these facts. Neither the Parents featured in the article nor the Journalists from Daily Mail bothered to meet the Surrogate Mother or visit the facility. Details mentioned in the article about number of Patients from UK Visiting India and other such details are not verified and were added just by hearsay.

According to Mr.Jaiswal, facilities provided to surrogate mothers in India are at par with the facilities available in most of the middle class households in India. The nutrition, nurture, care and medication provided to Surrogate Mothers is at par with the highest quality of such care only available to elite few.

Surrogate Mother for featured couple, who has had to face the brunt of the article, has had a very good upbringing, is from a lower middle class family. She is educated and can understand, write, and read in English. Women are ready to become Surrogates not just for money but to improve the circumstances in which they and their family currently live in, at times to secure their child's education, at times to pay for health concerns of their immediate ones, at times to fulfill their dreams of owning a house and a farm plot.

Surrogate was anguished and devastated when she saw the article. Her first reaction was "All of us at times work for someone or other, in work places all of us feel that our bosses are using us to gain profits and do not care about our well being. But no one likes to be called a slave or vessel in person and this has happened to me in Media"

When these issues were brought to the notice of the Publisher as-well as the Parents and the surrogate demanded for an unconditional apology, instead of apologizing to the Surrogate Mother and the facility for this article they have offered the surrogate one more article which they state will cover the positive side of the story, one more TV Documentary and a 1000 pound pay off to the surrogate by the daily mail to keep her mouth shut

When a clarification was sought from one of the journalists of the article, through her hotmail e-mail id we have received a response as quoted below.

"I have met many surrogates in India, although I have not made it to your clinic yet. I learnt from your clinic that you have felt offended by certain words used in the article. I want to apologise if those words have upset you at all."

She further adds on "The emotions that British Couple is feeling and quoted are obviously very personal" & "British Couple's quotes were her personal very raw feelings"

Further she adds "newspapers always need to accommodate their reader, so they use words which suits their style of writing." "Myself as a writer, and the featured British Couple as the interviewees have no say on the headline used."

Further on seeking clarification from the Featured Parents. Their replies were as anticipated.

Initially they tried to express their inability to confront the Publisher's "I'm afraid we have no ability to persuade the Daily Mail paper as to what to say." "We have not been fairly represented by the whole experience;"

Further added on "our experience with surrogacy and the Kiran Infertility Centre has been an overwhelmingly positive experience to date. Unfortunately for us all, this message has not come across clearly in the initial article published in the Daily Mail on Saturday 1st September." "We are devastated that the Daily Mail article has caused such upset. We certainly did not think it would be hard hitting headline news"

As a last resort we were lured for another article stating the quoted lines in one of the e-mails "I personally believe the best way to overcome this is not to fight it in a legal manner and with threats sent to journalists - I'm certain this will have no positive outcome in the UK. I'm sure you already know of the reputation of the UK press. I've also taken the advice of a number of PR professionals in the last 2 days to understand the options available to us. I can assure you, that their consistent advice is not to fight it, but to try and use the attention gained to tell a story. Fighting the UK press is not something that I nor you should want to embark upon as the results are highly unlikely to be positive."

"The angle of the article was not our intention at all and I hope you can see the sensationalism in the article – a result of the story becoming headline news. I understand you had provided facts and figures, but still your quotes have been contorted and you must appreciate the same thing has happened with our interview."

Through this press release we intend to bring the false hood and lies mentioned in this article to fore and to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in future. We also would like the parties involved to apologize to the Surrogate Mother who has been at the receiving end of this article. We are also thankful to all the readers of the article who have voiced their views about the negativity of this article on the website of daily mail.

For Original article, click here >>

Excerpts from the media coverage of Kiran Infertility Center!

American couples, especially gay men, are having children abroad for less money and with fewer headaches, and India, it seems, has emerged as the ideal surrogate mom destination, according to a report.

According to the report appearing in the website www.thedailybeast.com , Indian surrogacy is now a half-billion dollar industry.

It mentions the case of Mike Griebe and Brad Fister, who tried everything to have a child. They explored adoption. They researched what Griebe termed "a baby factory type deal," where you basically pay for a "ready-made baby." They went to agencies that promise to find babies in the United States.

The Kentucky couple even paid 20,000 dollars to a Virginia woman to be a surrogate, only to walk away when she insisted that if anything happened to Griebe, 38, and Fister, 30, that she would have rights to the baby.

Then, one day, while watching Oprah, they heard about a relatively new way to have a child: using an Indian surrogate.

At first, Griebe and Fister didn't think an Indian surrogate would be an option. "We just dismissed it because when we searched it, we found that most clinics would only deal with traditional couples," says Griebe -meaning straight couples. After searching online, they came across the Web site for KIC - Kiran Infertility Center, that guides foreign couples through the process of hiring a surrogate mother in India.

After talking with Dr Samit, a prominent embryologist in India, the two decided to use Fister's sperm for the pregnancy, and so he flew to India. Fister met his surrogate who, he says, is married with two children and told him the money she's making from the surrogacy will go toward her children's education. Fister says he was surprised at how open the clinic was.

"The whole process was a lot more hands-on than it would be in the U.S.," he says. "You get to see the whole process. I got to watch the embryos go in. Those are things you never get to see here. You follow them the whole way." After one failed attempt and one miscarriage, their surrogate is now due in April.

They get updates, including ultrasounds, via email. "I flew to India and checked out all the clinics," he said, before finally settling on Kiran Infertility Center. Commercial surrogacy was legalized in India in 2002, and it is now estimated to be a 445 million dollar business.

Griebe and Fister say they've spent around 40,000 dollars on the surrogacy process so far. According to the Clinic, 8,000 dollars goes directly to the surrogate mother. Kiran Infertility Center is one of the few to specifically target gay couples.

Homosexuality was only decriminalized in India in July; even though it was rarely prosecuted, it was still a social taboo until a few years ago.

It's illegal for surrogates to be recruited directly by the hospital. Instead, they're found by a social worker at an NGO, according to embryologist Dr. Samit Sekhar. "A year ago, I would have said it was very difficult to recruit a surrogate," says Sekhar. "Now it is becoming much more open. They get a decent amount of money. They get free food, free boarding, and free clothes, and they are housed in a nice place" for 12 months.

Sekhar says that Kiran can house up to 50 surrogates at a time. "They stay at the clinic. The non-pregnant surrogates are housed in an apartment," he says.

For Original article, click here >>

Kiran Infertility Center Joins the Medical Tourism Congress!

The Medical Tourism Association would like to welcome the Kiran Infertility Center as an Exhibitor at the 4th World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Conress held October 25-28th in Chicago, IL!

The Kiran Infertility Center provides the latest updated technology and expertise, with the help of world class equipment and personalized care for making each patients dream come true. KIC has made phenomenal progress in the Super-Specialty of Surrogacy and Infertility treatments. They have exchange of information and expertise with some of the leading Surrogacy and Infertility centres in the world. Thus, there is a constant flow of information on the recent advances in treatments at KIC, which ultimately helps patients attending the center by providing access to new technologies which are only available to only a select few.

For Original article, click here >>

KIC Expansion into the US!

This is my very fist time blogging. I thought I would give it a try in hopes to expand my knowledge of marketing, but also help in building the brand of the Kiran Infertility Center in Hyderabad, India.

My first few months have been dedicated to obtaining egg donors. Having been an egg donor myself previously this is quite simple for me. I am familiar with the process inside and out. However, finding girls who want to travel to India to donate has proven to be a bit more challenging. For every ad I post I get roughly 10 to 15 inquiries, but only receive 2 applications back. I am not sure if young women are intimidated by the length of the application or by the fact that they would have to travel to India if selected. Either way it is my job to help them understand more about India and what a great place it is to travel.

The next big task I have is building the brand here in the US. We at the Kiran Clinic are planning a kick off event on December 10th, 2011 in New York City. This event will be open to press and those who are interested in learning more about our services. I have reached out to so many hotels looking for the best rates, but winter in NY isn't cheap. Also communicating with my team who is across the globe makes for a difficult turn around on decisions. We have the ad purchased and the date set, so hopefully we will pick a great hotel and be ready to move ahead. We hope that after this event in NYC peoples apprehensions about traveling to India for surrogacy will be eased.

One final task that I have as the new US Consultant for the Kiran Infertility Center is obtaining new clients. Reaching out to those who are looking at IVF and surrogacy options overseas. I help with talking to new clients who reach out to us on our website and answering their questions. I have to start bringing in new clients on my own. I have started with attending networking events in my local area, however I am brainstorming on what else I can do.

This is my challenge overall and I hope this blog serves as a learning tool for me and anyone else who happens to read it.

For Original article, click here >>