Over the past few days we've had the pleasure to finally meet Rudy Rupak of Planet Hospital, the founder of the company that has facilitated our first, fourth and fifth (current!) surrogacy attempts. Rudy stopped over in Anchorage on his way out to Dutch Harbor for business and while he was here we took him down to Portage Glacier and Whittier for a day of sightseeing.
Rudy and his company have done a lot to help us prepare and take care of details and we've talked with his disembodied voice over the phone many times. It has been great getting to know him over the past few days and I sure hope he has had a good time visiting Alaska.
Many people don't realize Rudy's pioneering efforts for the medical tourism model and the surrogacy model in particular. Especially as it pertains to gays and singles who go to India for surrogacy. Without people like him and his initiative to partner up with progressive Indian clinics who don't see anything wrong with working with gays and singles, this option may very well have been limited to just married, heterosexual couples, as is the case with some Indian IVF clinics that deal with Westerners. But through his vision, entrepreneurial spirit and some very well-publicized success stories, the rest is history for the Indian surrogacy industry. Some cynics out there may respond he is just a businessperson; yes that may be true on the surface but businesspeople also have a choice as to whom they decide to offer services. Rudy has definately taken a lot of flack and threats from fringe groups and other nutcakes for advocating for gays and singles to be allowed surrogacy services, so he has definately shown that his motivations are not merely for profit and he continues to be a tireless advocate for keeping this option open for everyone.
ReplyDeletei'm glad rudy is a business person. that means he takes care of business. surrogacy in india has opened up a whole new world for me becoming an intimate part of some many lifes regardless of lifestyles. we all share one thing in common, the most preciouss tender thing of all... the strong passionate desire to hold life in our arms, nuture the wee one and pour out an abundance of love which in my mind is the essence of mankind. it is my strong desire to have a baby, like everyone for many reasons but maybe the most important reason is to have someone to carry on the torch of humanity, compassion, spirit and love. when it all boils down isn't that what its really about... preserving this beatiful earth, with all of it's different cultures, people loving one another, sharing hopes and dreams and using our own individual talents to collectively throw into the pool and make it all come true. thank you for introducing rudy to me and sharing a slice of alaska. is that snow!
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome guys. And the comments are spot on. Couldn't have happened without him.
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