Two good to be true!

Shilpasri and Lakshmi are mommies to Dishant and Trishika, and even though they are aunts to each other’s child, they’ve played the roles of being their mothers. One fostered her little nephew as she yearned for her own child, and another carried her husband’s niece in her womb, to fulfil that yearning...

- SWATI CHOPRA VIKAMSEY

Software engineer turned mommy blogger Shilpasri Vyasaraja, 34, and her husband Amogh Masur tried hard to have a baby. And when fate did not favour them, science stepped in... piggybacking on an angel in the form of Shilpa’s sister-in-law G Sree Lakshmi or Lucky, 24. This beautiful story of altruistic surrogacy within the family upholds the wonder of science, the vantage point of close-knit Indian families, and finally, the fact that love triumphs over everything else.

While surrogacy is commonly popularised as “borrowing an oven for your bun” or “renting a uterus”, this narrative extends well beyond the accepted norm of the concept. This is a story of two mums— none of whom can be labelled as intended, surrogate or foster—and yet we do label them, purely for the ease of understanding. But nothing more. For this is a story of two women, both of whom understand that care for another human being and selfless love extend way beyond petty insecurities and attachment to parenting ideals that are often defined by apathetic societal norms. In what has become a highly commercialised industry, despite the happiness it brings to a multitude of to-be parents, one rarely comes across an act of love like this. It’s even rarer to hear about a surrogate’s perspective on taking the plunge, well, at least in the Indian context. Read on about both perspectives on how they circumvented around each step along their journey...

THE DECISION

MOMMY