Time to streamline odd rules of surrogacy
The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016, cleared by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday will definitely serve as a timely measure to clamp down on numerous crimes, frauds and the huge network of illegal businesses surrounding the surrogacy around the country. This will help the Government, particularly the national and state surrogacy boards to streamline the regulation of the mostly scattered pieces of rules pertaining to surrogacy which were not practiced or rather implemented till date in view of the entirety of the issue.
The Bill prohibits the practice of commercial surrogacy and bars married couples who have biological or adopted children, single people, live-in partners and homosexuals from opting for surrogacy, and will provide a safe environment for those who are in dire need of children than simply doing it as they are financially capable or having more babies out of sheer fashion. The Bill banning the homosexuals from having surrogate babies is in line with the Supreme Court's order upholding Section 377 criminalising gay sex in India, and also it goes along with our ethos, as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj says.
Allowing only ‘altruistic surrogacy' for childless couples who have been married for at least five years under this Bill can help identifying a section of married people opting for surrogate babies than purposefully exploiting hundreds of poor women for the new born by many. Beyond this, the condition that the surrogate mother must be a close relative of the couple, must be married and have borne a child of her own will now though restrict the practice of surrogacy, but only by precisely defining the contours of the importance of surrogacy.
Such a married woman who opts for shouldering the responsibility of carrying surrogate babies, can do it only once in her lifetime. This will be beneficial for mothers who till date have done it more than once, at least both for the safety of the baby and for the health of the woman. By prohibiting childless and unmarried women from becoming surrogate mothers, the Bill can prevent a large number of women who were lured and drawn to the network of middlemen on behalf of rich, influential and foreign couples just for earning money. Barring foreigners, non-resident Indians and People of Indian Origin who hold Overseas Citizen of India cards from surrogacy in India, the Government highlights how divorces are so rampant abroad and hence, surrogacy can well be used as a tool for having babies the way they want. A jail term of up to 10 years and a fine of Rs10 lakh for opting for commercial surrogacy and abandoning the child will serve a good lesson for the offenders.
The stress on compulsory registration of the surrogacy clinics and allowing them to charge for the services rendered will help eliminating a lot of fake medical establishments. The surrogate mother cannot demand any service charge as she will be a close relative of the couple. Indeed, the closeness of the woman to the couple will forge a link with the new born and the latter will not be in the dark in future like it is under commercial surrogacy. Rendering equal rights to the surrogate child like that of the biological one will protect its rights in future. Hope the new Bill becomes a full-fledged law soon.