London: After a six-month immigration battle, test-tube twins born to their maternal grandmother in Gujarat have been allowed to enter Britain to be re-united with their genetic parents. The twins, a boy and a girl, made history when they were born in a fertility clinic in Gujarat after their 46-year-old maternal grandmother, who has four children of her own, agreed to carry the embryo from her daughter, who was unable to give birth because of a rare gynaecological disorder Rokitansky Syndrome.

The twins were not given British passports because they were born in India and their host mother was not a British citizen. However, their father's family has been British for four generations.

The twins had to wait for six months before being granted a temporary Visa to visit their parents in Ilford, East London.

Their Visa will last a year, but when it expires they could be forced to leave the country, 'The Guardian' reported today (July 27, 2004).

The twins were born from a fertilised egg from their genetic mother, which was implanted in their grandmother in a private clinic in Gujarat.

Yesterday, the twins' paternal grandfather spoke of the family's anger and confusion at the treatment of the children. "We cannot be sure about the babies' future in this country," he told the 'London Evening Standard'.

"I am British, their father is British and my own grandfather was British. I don't understand why we had to go through all this trouble to get them here.

"It would take three years to adopt them and anyway, why should we have to? They are our children by birth and we have no need to prove that with a bit of paperwork," the paternal grandfather of the twins said.

His 26-year-old daughter-in-law said, "The babies are a miracle and have brought me so much happiness."

According to current surrogacy legislation, children born in circumstances similar to this case are judged to have the same nationality as their birth mother rather than their genetic mother.

The family in Britain can either adopt the twins to make sure they get British passports - which could take years - or apply to have them registered as British citizens.

A Home Office spokesman said they do not comment on individual cases, but confirmed that under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act the surrogate and her husband - not the commissioning couple - were recognised as the parents.

But he said biological parents could apply to adopt their children and added that a "common sense approach" was taken towards such cases.

The IVF specialist, who oversaw the birth of twins in Gujarat, said, "These twins have enriched the lives of so many people and I wish them the best of luck in Britain, which is where they rightfully belong with their parents."