Govt probe on Nayanthara-Vignesh Shivan ‘surrogacy’ to clear air, no complaints so far, says Tamil Nadu health official

The committee, headed by a joint director-rank official, has been assigned to look into whether the couple — Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan — complied with the law while choosing surrogacy. After Parliament approved the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act in December 2021, which came into effect on January 25, 2022, commercial surrogacy has been outlawed in India. Only ‘altruistic surrogacy’ is now permitted, in which the bearing mother receives no financial assistance other than medical expenses.

Talking to indianexpress.com, A Viswanathan, joint director of Medical and Rural Health Services, said the team has been formed and the investigation has started. Viswanathan, who is heading the probe committee, said there was no complainant.

“We are taking suo moto proceedings to clear off the mystery in the entire episode. This is to keep up the goodwill of procedures we follow in Tamil Nadu. Otherwise, there were no complainants or complaints raising charges or allegations in this particular case. It became sensational news after the parents announced it on social media. There were debates on different grounds, and the best thing the government could do was clear the air,” he said.

Viswanathan said the primary job before them was to verify all hospital records to ensure that all procedures were followed. “Only after verifying official records and procedures followed in the particular case, we need to think of the next stage,” he said. When asked if Nayanthara and Shivan would be interviewed by the probe panel, he said the situation would arise only if there was a violation. “There are no signs of violation. So I need not comment on that,” he said.

Another senior health official, requesting anonymity, said the hospital being probed is located in Chennai as per their preliminary information.

On October 9, Shivan published photos on his Instagram and Twitter accounts with the caption, “Nayan & Me have become Amma & Appa. We are blessed with twin baby boys. All our prayers, our ancestors’ blessings combined with all the good manifestations made, have come together in the form of two blessed babies for us. We need all the blessings for our Uyir and Ulagam.”

However, the couples have not yet revealed if they used surrogacy to conceive the babies.