Breaking his silence on the birth of his baby boy AbRam through surrogacy, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan today refuted reports of pre-birth sex determination test on the child.
Shah Rukh, 47, who is already a father to Aryan, 16, and Suhana, 13, said he did not comment earlier because he and wife Gauri were dealing with the health of the child who was "born prematurely."
"Amidst all the noise that has been going around, the sweetest is the one made by our newborn baby, AbRam. He was born prematurely by several months but has finally come home. Gauri and our whole family have been dealing with his health issues for a long time now," Shah Rukh said in a statement.
He said the silence on the part of his family on the subject has been because of the personal nature of "emotional strife" that they have been going through due to the child's health.
Thanking doctor Jatin Shah and the medical staff for helping them in nurturing AbRam during a difficult time, Shah Rukh said they never lost hope.
There have been reports that the Bollywood couple went for a sex determination test, which is illegal in India.
But Shah Rukh termed the speculation as "insensitive".
"Just to put the record straight there was no sex determination for our child. The baby was born much before the speculations of 'sex determination' and other 'issues' pertaining to the same were being raised in the media by some organisations," he said.
The actor said he wanted to enjoy the private moment with his family.
"Our son is a surrogate baby and the entire process is bound by strict confidentiality. We would appeal to all, to allow us to cherish this private moment as a family. It seems unfortunate that I have to explain/clarify so many aspects for our new-born baby. Wish it were just a simple message of happiness on behalf of the family," Shah Rukh said.
"They say a baby is God's opinion that the world should go on. Post this statement, I hope we all move on too."
Here is the full statement issued by Shah Rukh Khan:
Amidst all the noise that has been going around, the sweetest is the one made by our new-born baby, AbRam.
He was born prematurely by several months but has finally come home.
Gauri and our whole family have been dealing with his health issues for a long time now.
As a family our silence on this subject has been because of the personal nature of emotional strife that we have been going through due to his health.
We wish to make a special mention and thank Dr. Jatin Shah for his expertise and contribution. We also wish to thank all the other doctors, nurses and medical staff who have made his life possible. As trying were the times, we never lost hope that life always brings with it.
Just to put the record straight there was no sex determination for our child. The baby was born much before the speculations of ‘sex determination’ and other ‘issues’ pertaining to the same were being raised in the media by some organisations.
Suffice to say his coming home puts to rest completely false and at times insensitive claims of sex determination and alleged illegalities.
We also apologise to all those other doctors and hospitals who had to face unwanted scrutiny and questioning by some parties.
Our son is a surrogate baby and the entire process is bound by strict confidentiality. We would appeal to all, to allow us to cherish this private moment as a family.
It seems unfortunate that I have to explain/clarify so many aspects for our new-born baby. Wish it were just a simple message of happiness on behalf of the family.
They say a baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on. Post this statement, I hope we all move on too.
Thank you.
Shah Rukh Khan
