India's Surrogacy Bill: Whose Womb is it anyway? |
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In a bid to curb unethical and commercial practices related to surrogacy, preventing womb trade, and safeguarding the rights of surrogate mothers, the Union Cabinet of India gave its nod to the draft Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016, on August 24, 2016. The proposed law was found to be mostly in line with the 228th report of the Law Commission of India and similar laws governing surrogacy in other countries. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj (Swaraj) spearheaded the Group of Ministers which was constituted by the Prime Minister’s Office to finalize the Bill dealing solely with surrogacy. Analysts believed that the bill was largely derived from the UK’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, 1990, and Surrogacy Arrangements Act which allowed only close relatives to be surrogate mothers... .. |
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| Favoring the surrogacy bill, Dr Mangla Telang, Director, Fertility Research and IVF Centre, said, “I think it is a good Bill. Surrogacy was being misused. It was unfair to poor women – admittedly it was a good income opportunity, may be they could have looked after their family better. But look at the health hazards. And there is no logic in allowing a couple with a disadvantaged child to go for surrogacy... |
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| Domain experts opined that the Surrogacy Bill despite being intended to protect the rights of poor women would result in violating the fundamental rights of the stakeholders. Many feared that it would cause more harm than benefit to the surrogates and children born through surrogacy. There were concerns that the draft had been framed without addressing the actual concerns of the surrogacy arrangements in the country and it could lead to a greater exploitation of women. Industry experts opined that surrogacy laws should take into account the full consent of the woman in question. However, the bill had completely ignored this aspect... |
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| In India, surrogacy had remained a grey area for many years with successive governments allowing it to flourish in an unregulated manner. The Surrogacy Bill had been on the cards for many years and the government had presented several versions of it. However, most of the previous proposals had been flawed... |
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| The Government of India faced an uproar over the various provisions of the Surrogacy Bill 2016. The bill, in its current avatar, was considered conservative. Considering this, the government hinted that the provisions were likely to be amended. In an assurance to the public, the Health Minister said all concerns relating to the Surrogacy Bill would be addressed and the government was open to suggestions to strengthen the bill... |
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Exhibit-I: Why Opt for Surrogacy
Exhibit-II: Commercial Surrogacy across Countries
Exhibit-III: Similarity between Indian Surrogacy Bill and UK Surrogacy Law
Exhibit-IV: Regulation, Offences and Penalties Covered Under the Surrogacy Bill 2016 |
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