According to the bill, Indian heterosexual couples who are legally married for at least five years can try for surrogacy after they produce necessary documents to confirm that they cannot reproduce/procreate.
As Lok Sabha passed the Surrogacy Regulation Bill 2016 that seeks to stop commercial surrogacy in the country in the winter session of Parliament on Wednesday, many doctors came out on social media to condemn the bill which, in their opinion, will exploit the surrogates, who come from weaker sections of the society, leading to their trafficking.
According to the bill, Indian heterosexual couples who are legally married for at least five years can try for surrogacy after they produce necessary documents to confirm that they cannot reproduce/procreate. The surrogacy will only be possible with a relative, for 'altruistic' reasons, who is married, has a child and has never been a surrogate before. While there is a need to regulate the industry, some believe that the ban would be unfair on both sides—to the surrogate mother and the parents-to-be.
Delhi alone sees over 2,000 surrogacy cases every year.
"Commercial surrogacy ban is a way to sideline women who do not have a uterus," says Dr Abha Majumdar, Director and Head of IVF and Human Reproduction at Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi. "The law should be such that it safeguards the women who bear children for others; it should not call them or the child illegal. With this law we are risking women, who cannot have children, their homes. Surrogacy is the only option for those who marry into families that want them to bear children."
The introduction of the new law will be helpful only to married couples who can successfully convince a relative to be a surrogate for them. It does not provide any solutions for single parents, homosexuals, divorced or couples who live together. "If the law is introduced, surrogates will still bear children commercially, but there will be no guarantee of them getting paid," warns Majumdar. "We should instead look at removing the middleman, safeguard the surrogate and provide better health facilities."
While most criticized, the government says that the bill is only to stop commercial surrogacy in India as the country has become a commercial surrogacy hub.
"The aim of this bill is to stop commercial surrogacy in the country. And our intention is to save the family who does not have a child. This bill is for the dignified family, for a husband and wife," said JP Nadda, Union Health Minister.
CENTRE'S STAND
The government says the bill will curb commercial surrogacy as India has become a commercial surrogacy hub. “Our intention is to save the family that does not have a child,” said Health Minister JP Nadda.
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