The surrogacy story in a nutshell
Australian couple Ryan and James, began their commercial surrogacy journey as an exciting adventure. However very quickly it turned into a nightmare as they became stranded with a newborn baby across the globe in a third world country. Why? Their surrogacy agency provided them with not 1, but 2 fake birth certificates. This left them stranded with no way to get home.
The surrogacy agency’s bungle
After much research they signed up to an established commercial surrogacy agency by the name of Become Parents Surrogacy. This agency is owned by Gaurav Wankhede.
Their commercial surrogacy agent selected a Kenyan surrogate for them in 2017. Part of Become Parents obligations were to screen the surrogate.
The Surrogate gave birth in May of 2018, but provided fake identification at the hospital that had a fake name on it. The same fake identification that commercial surrogacy agency Become Parents were supposed to screen.
The details from the fake ID were used to generate a birth notification, which is required to generate a birth certificate.
The fake birth certificate
Several weeks after the birth, Become Parents surrogacy provided James and Ryan with a Birth Certificate, or so they thought. This certificate turned out to be fraudulent.
Unbeknownst to James and Ryan that the birth certificate was fake, they submitted the certificate to the Australian Embassy. The certificate was required to obtain a passport for their child so they could return home.
On 7th September 2018 the embassy alerted James and Ryan to the fact that the birth certificate organised by Become Parents Surrogacy was fraudulent. They demanded an official response, given the seriousness of providing fake documentation.
The couple requested Gaurav to provide an official reply. The reply provided by Gaurav included: “My agency had tasked obtaining the BC through a local contact person and I am unable to reach him at present”.
Stranded and helpless
It soon hit the couple that their situation was dire. They were stranded with a 5 month old across the globe in a third world country with no timeframe for when they could get out.
Gaurav from Become Parents Surrogacy assured the couple this all was simply a misunderstanding, explaining that the certificate just wasn’t processed correctly by Kenyan Authorities and a new certificate was being generated. With over 11 years experience in commercial surrogacy the couple knew Become Parents were experienced with the process but didn’t know what to believe.
Become Parents Surrogacy soon after supplied a second birth certificate to the couple with the strong assurance it was registered, valid and legitimate. Knowing the seriousness of the matter the couple asked the embassy to get the certificate verified immediately. The embassy came back to them the next day. This second birth certificate was also deemed fake.
Everything came crashing down from here. Read on….
Commercial surrogacy nightmare in Kenya – A must read for parents starting their journey 