The twins in Ahmedabad. (AFP file picture)

London, July 27: Twins who made medical history when they were born to their grandmother have been allowed to return to England after a six-month immigration battle.

Neel and Nandani Nagla were born in a fertility clinic in India after their grandmother, Rhada Patel, agreed to carry her daughter’s embryo.

Although the twins’ biological parents are British and live in Ilford, Essex, the six-month-old boy and girl have been refused British passports because they were born in India and their surrogate mother is an Indian citizen.

The twins have now been granted entry to Britain by embassy staff in India but only on fixed-term visas for a year. It is not clear what will happen when the visas expire.

The twins’ paternal grandfather, Natu, said yesterday: “We cannot be sure about the babies’ future in this country. 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. From what I have been told, I am satisfied they will not be forced to go back to India. That would be heartless.”

Rhada Patel, 46, who has four children of her own, gave birth to her grandchildren at the Akanksha infertility clinic in Anand, Gujarat.

She offered to carry eggs taken from her daughter Lata, 26, and fertilised by her son-in-law, Aakash, 30, when the couple discovered that they could not have children.

Lata Nagla has Rokitansky syndrome, a rare condition that causes the uterus to develop abnormally.

She had searched in vain for an Asian woman in Britain to have a child for them.

Rhada Patel said she had doubts beforehand because of her age and the moral and cultural dilemma posed but her husband, Chandra, urged her to do it for their daughter’s sake.

At the time of their birth, the British High Commission in New Delhi said visas would be necessary for the twins’ return to Britain because — until they were adopted by their genetic parents — the children would bear the surname of their grandparents. They would, therefore, be regarded as Indian citizens.

But yesterday the twins’ paternal grandfather was reported as saying that the family did not want to adopt the children because of the bureaucracy involved.

“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.”

Their father claims there should be no question about their nationality because his family has been British for four generations.

Yesterday, he said: “It has all been worth it. These babies are my pride and joy. They are living proof that good can come out of bad.”

Lata Nagla said: “The babies are a miracle and have brought me so much happiness. But sometimes they take it in turns to see who can cry the loudest.”

Under British surrogacy law, a child born through such an arrangement is deemed to have the nationality of the birth mother, not the genetic mother.

Lata and Aakash Nagla have two options: they can apply to adopt the twins or they can apply to register them as British citizens.

A home office spokesman said: “Under English law, the commissioning couple are not registered as the legal parents of the child.”

The home office said it could not comment on the time it had taken to grant the twins entry to Britain.