After reports of sex determination of Shah Rukh Khan’s surrogate child appeared in the media, the state health department instructed the BMC to investigate the matter. BMC officials were dispatched to the actor’s Bandra house “Mannat” to investigate and record the actor’s statement on Monday.
The civic body’s pressed into action after a complaint was filed by an NGO alleging sex determination of the surrogate child by Shah Rukh, wife Gauri and their doctor. The Pre-Conception Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act prohibits sex determination of foetus in India. The officials also visited a south Mumbai hospital, which they believed could be conducting the surrogacy for the celebrity couple.
“The actor is not in the city. Our team had a verbal communication with his manager, who said that the actor has not spoken to the media about surrogacy,” said Dr Arun Bamne, executive health officer, BMC. Varsha Deshpande, who runs the NGO Lek Ladki Abhiyan and has been instrumental in conducting decoy sting operations to nab doctors involved in illegal sex determination, complained to the BMC on Sunday alleging gross violation of the PCPNDT Act.
Incidentally, Jaslok Hospital issued a statement, which said, “Dr Firuza Parikh, who is the director of the IVF centre at the hospital has not done surrogacy for Shah Rukh and Mrs Khan.”