Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan's Surrogacy Under Scanner, TN Health Minister Orders Enquiry

Tamil actor Nayanthara and her director husband, Vignesh Shivan, surprised their fans on Sunday (October 9) when they announced that they had become parents to twin boys. The couple got married in June after dating for five years. There has been speculation that the pair might have used surrogacy. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu's state health minister, on being asked if there had been any violations of surrogacy rules, said they would look into the matter.

For the uninformed, surrogacy has been made illegal in India since January, with some exceptions. Ma Subramanian, Tamil Nadu's health minister, reacting to the star's newborn news, said that the state government will seek an explanation from the couple on the matter.

Vignesh took to social media and shared a few photos of the newborn babies and revealed their names as well. "Nayan & Me have become Amma & Appa. We are blessed with Twin Baby Boys," tweeted Vignesh alongside photographs of Nayanthara kissing the twins' feet.

"According to norms, those aged 21 years and under the age of 36 can donate oocytes (ova or eggs). We presume this could have been done that way... director of health services will be asked to examine if it was done according to norms," state health minister MA Subramanian stated.

Surrogacy laws were amended to ensure that it is not commercially exploited. On the other hand, many doctors say that Nayanthara and Vignesh may have conceived the children prior to the law's amendment.

Fans speculated that the kids must have been born via surrogacy. Celebrities opting for such a method is nothing new. Earlier, notable stars like Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas, Shah Rukh Khan, and Karan Johar have wlocmed their kids via surrogacy.

Meanwhile, there has been no official statement from Nayanthara or Vignesh regarding their children's birth. However, it is likely that the couple may have begun the surrogacy procedure before December 2021, when commercial surrogacy was permitted. The new Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 came into effect on January 25, 2022. As per the new set of rules, couples who have a "medical indication necessitating gestational surrogacy" are eligible only if they have an Indian woman widow or divorcee who is between the ages of 35 and 45.