Surrogacy act gives birth to a debate

While a top Bollywood actor rumoured to be having his third child through a surrogate has neither confirmed nor denied the reports, senior doctors and in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) specialists are once again hotly debating whether surrogacy should be available only to those couples who cannot bear a child in any other way or to anybody who can afford it.

In the absence of clear regulation, they all agree, surrogacy is a currently unchecked and unsupervised industry with no law to fall back on if anything goes wrong during the treatment. Whether couples already blessed with kids should opt for a surrogate is also being debated. “Surrogacy is an option for those couples where pregnancy could be dangerous for the woman or if she has a medical problem such as multiple miscarriages,” said Dr Ameet Patki, a senior IVF expert based in Khar. That’s the only condition on which he recommends surrogacy, he added,” Dr Patki added.

Pramod Nirgudkar, Programme Director of the Committed Community Development Trust, an NGO working for Child rights and Health, said doctors should look at the couple’s intention in seeking a surrogate. “If they want a child as entertainment, then it is wrong. There is no law in our country that defines who is eligible to get the option of surrogacy. If they seek this option despite having children, then it is complete unethical.,” Nirgudkar said.

On the other hand, Vandana Pikale, gynaecologist and spokesperson for the Association of Medical Consultants, said, “Despite having two children, if a deserving family needs a third child then I think surrogacy may be a good option. But at the same time we need a strong law to protect women who rent their wombs for this pregnancy.”

According to sources, there are around 70-80 IVF centres in Mumbai and 200 centres in the state, with the numbers rising over the past few months. The cost of the treatment runs into lakhs.

Calling for a strong law to regulate all activities in IVF clinics, Varsha Deshpande, member of the central monitoring committee for implementation of the PCPNDT Act, said it is not right for those with children to opt for surrogacy. “It is obviously wrong to take advantage of this technology or treatment for having another child when you have your own child. It means anybody who has money can just throw money and get a child,” she said.

A senior official from the state’s Health Department pointed out that another reason to draft and implement rules and regulations surrounding surrogacy is to ensure there is no sex determination offered alongside the IVF treatment.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), which drafted the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill and Rules in 2008, says it is unfortunate that the proposed law is still pending in Parliament. “We already made a draft of this bill. It is uploaded on our website. We will once again push for this bill to be passed in Parliament. Once the law is passed, everything will be in place,” said Dr VM Katoch, Director General of the ICMR.