Adoption is an underutilised option that can not only give happiness to a childless couple but also

provide a future for an orphan child

Surrogacy is when a woman carries a baby for another couple and gives up the baby at birth. In the past decade,
commercial surrogacy has grown tremendously in India. It is currently estimated to be a $2-billion industry.
Before November 2015, when the government imposed a ban, foreigners accounted for 80 per cent of surrogacy
births in the country. This is because most countries, barring a few such as Russia, Ukraine and some U.S. states,
do not permit commercial surrogacy. Many countries in Europe have completely prohibited surrogacy
arrangements, both to protect the reproductive health of the surrogate mother as well as the future of the
newborn child.

The trigger
The debate began when, in 2008, a Japanese doctor couple commissioned a baby in a small town in Gujarat. The
surrogate mother gave birth to a healthy baby girl. By then the couple had separated and the baby was both
parentless and stateless, caught between the legal systems of two countries. The child is now in her
grandmothers custody in Japan but has not obtained citizenship, as surrogacy is not legal in Japan.

In 2012, an Australian couple who had twins by surrogacy, arbitrarily rejected one and took home the other. A
single mother of two from Chennai decided to become a surrogate mother in the hope that the payment would
help her start a shop near her house. She delivered a healthy child, but her hopes bore little fruit for herself. She
received only about Rs.75,000, with an autorickshaw driver who served as a middleman, taking a 50 per cent cut.
After repaying the loans, she did not have enough money. On January 29, 2014, 26-year-old Yuma Sherpa died in
the aftermath of a surgical procedure to harvest eggs from her body, as part of the egg donation programme of a
private clinic based in New Delhi.

These incidents highlight the total disregard for the rights of the surrogate mother and child and have resulted in
a number of public interest litigations in the Supreme Court to control commercial surrogacy. The 228th report of
the Law Commission of India also recommended prohibiting commercial surrogacy and allowing ethical altruistic
surrogacy to needy Indian citizens by enacting a suitable legislation.

The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 proposes to regulate surrogacy in India by permitting it as an option for
couples who cannot naturally have children, have a lack of other assisted reproductive technology options, are
keen to have a biological child, and can find a surrogate mother among their relatives. Altruistic surrogacy, which
means an arrangement without transfer of funds as inducement, is currently practised in some centres in India,
though the majority of surrogacy centres use women who are paid for their services. The child born through
surrogacy will have all the rights of a biological child. Indian infertile couples between the ages of 23-50 years
(woman) and 26-55 (man) who have been married for five years and who do not have a surviving child will be
eligible for surrogacy. The surrogate mother should be a close relative of the intending couple and between the
ages of 25-35 years and shall act as a surrogate mother only once in her lifetime. Implementation will be through
the national and State surrogacy boards. Any establishment found undertaking commercial surrogacy,
abandoning the child, exploiting the surrogate mother, selling or importing a human embryo shall be punishable
with imprisonment for a term not be less than 10 years and with a fine up to Rs.10 lakh. Registered surrogacy
clinics will have to maintain all records for a minimum period of 25 years.

Think adoption
While infertility is a growing problem in India, there are many different ways of making a family. Adoption is an
underutilised option that can not only give happiness to a childless couple but also provide a home and a future
for an orphan child. While the Bill will now be placed before Parliament and the details debated, the basic tenet of
disallowing commercial surrogacy is at its heart, and will remain.

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan is Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research.

New surrogacy Bill bars married couples with kids, NRIs, gays, live-ins, foreigners

The government on Wednesday approved a bill that bans commercial surrogacy,

and bars single people, married couples who have biological/ adopted children,
live-in partners and homosexuals from opting for surrogacy.

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By: Express News Service | New Delhi | Updated: August 25, 2016 10:49 am

surrogacy bill, ban on commercial surrogacy, surrogacy, sushma swaraj, latest

news, surrogacy news External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said foreigners,
NRIs and PIOs who hold Overseas Citizens of India cards have been barred from
opting for surrogacy as divorces are very common in foreign countries.
(Express File Photo by Prem Nath Pandey)

THE GOVERNMENT on Wednesday approved a Bill that bans commercial

surrogacy, and bars married couples who have biological or adopted children,
single people, live-in partners and homosexuals from opting for surrogacy.

The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016, cleared by the Cabinet, only allows
altruistic surrogacy for childless couples who have been married for at least
five years. Then too, the surrogate mother should be a close relative of the
couple, should be married and have borne a child of her own.

Briefing the press after the Cabinet meeting, External Affairs Minister Sushma
Swaraj said foreigners, NRIs and PIOs who hold Overseas Citizens of India (OCI)
cards have also been barred from opting for surrogacy as divorces are very
common in foreign countries.

G1

Swaraj headed the Group of Ministers (GoM) who finalised the Bill in its current
form, dealing solely with surrogacy in contrast to another Bill, which the
department of health research has been working on for years now, seeking to
regulate all aspects of assisted reproductive practices. There are enough
regulations on IVF, Swaraj said.

New surrogacy Bill bars single parents, homosexuals, live-in couples, foreigners
married woman who has at least one child of her own can be a surrogate mother
only once in her lifetime. Childless or unmarried women are not allowed to be
surrogate mothers.

Without taking any names, Swaraj said it was unfortunate that couples, who
already have a son and a daughter of their own, opt for surrogacy just because
it is fashionable.

Replying to a question, she said: We do not recognise homosexual or live-in

relationships, that is why they are not allowed to commission babies through
surrogacy. It is against our ethos.

Watch Video: Govt Moves To Ban Commercial Surrogacy: What It Means

The Bill, which borrows heavily from UKs altruistic surrogacy Bill, has changed
the British provision of allowing only blood relatives to close relatives, a term
that will be further elaborated in the rules.

In commercial surrogacy, one would just pay the surrogate mother and ensure
that the mother and baby never come in touch. But in this case it is an open
thing, there are no ethical issues. The child would know who the biological
mother is because it is a close relative, said Swaraj. In the absence of close
relatives, the couple should opt for adoption, she said.

The reason we have not allowed a couple with a biological or adopted child to
commission another baby through surrogacy is because there is bound to be
discrimination, if not at the time of bringing up the child, then certainly when the
question of property arises, Swaraj said.

The Bill requires all surrogacy clinics to be registered. Clinics can charge for the
services rendered in the course of surrogacy, but the surrogate mother cannot be
paid. National and state surrogacy boards will be the regulating authorities.

ALSO READ: What is surrogacy? Everything you need to know

Commercial surrogacy, abandoning the surrogate child, exploitation of surrogate

mother, selling/ import of human embryo have all been deemed as violations
that are punishable by a jail term of at least 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 10
lakh. Clinics have to maintain records of surrogacy for 25 years. The rights of the
surrogate child will be the same as that of a biological child.

Meanwhile, Swarajs dismissal of homosexuality, though in line with the Supreme

Courts order upholding Section 377 criminalising gay sex, is at odds with the
opinion of her cabinet colleague Arun Jaitley. When you have millions of people
involved in this (gay sex), you cant nudge them off Jurisprudence world over is
evolving, I think the judgment was not correct and, probably at some stage, they
may have to reconsider, Jaitley had said earlier.
The Union Cabinet, on Wednesday, cleared the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016, banning commercial surrogacy
in India.

The Bill also bars foreigners, homosexual couples, people in live-in relationships and single individuals, making
only childless, straight Indian couple married for a minimum of five years eligible for surrogacy.

Eligible couples will have to turn to close relatives, not necessarily related by blood for altruistic surrogacy
where no money exchanges hands between the commissioning couple and the surrogate mother.

Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj defended making homosexuals ineligible for surrogacy.

Aligned with our values

Ms. Swaraj said: Each country has to make laws that are aligned with our values, as per a legal framework.
Homosexual couples are not recognised by law in India.

The Bill also prohibits couples who already have biological or adopted children from commissioning babies
through surrogacy.

The surrogacy debate started in India in 2008, when two-week-old Baby Manji Yamada was left stateless after the
commissioning parents in Japan divorced during the pregnancy and the commissioning mother refused to accept
the baby. While the court granted custody to the babys grandmother after a long legal battle, the case led the
Gujarat HC to state that there is extreme urgency to push through legislation which addresses such issues.
Subsequently, the 228th report of the Law Commission of India recommended prohibiting commercial surrogacy
and allowing ethical altruistic surrogacy to the needy Indian citizens by enacting a suitable legislation.

The Bill approved on Wednesday will apply to the whole of India, except Jammu and Kashmir. Before being
passed by the Cabinet, a Group of Ministers (GoM) had recently cleared the Bill.

Taking a jibe at celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan, who had children by way of surrogacy, Ms
Swaraj said that, rich people outsource pregnancies to poorer women because their wives cannot go through
labour pain. We have put a complete stop to celebrities who are commissioning surrogate children like a hobby,
despite having biological ones.

Further, the new Bill mandates that women acting as surrogates can do so only once. And all Assisted
Reproductive Technology (ART) clinics will be registered.

We have given 10 months during which pregnancies under way now can be seen through and the babies
delivered to the commissioning parents. After that all clinics will have to adhere to these new laws once
Parliament passes the Bill in the next session, said J.P. Nadda, Health Minister.

In 2002, India became the first country to legalise commercial surrogacy. By 2012, India had become the
surrogacy capital of the world with surrogacy tourism valued at approximately $500 million annually by a paper
written by advocate Amil Malhotra titled, All aboard for the fertility express.

Expert view

Gynaecologists and infertility specialists also took offence to surrogacy being equated with indulgence as they said
it is most often the last resort for people wanting a child. The draft Bill bans renting a womb for money and allows
it only if the woman is doing so for altruistic reasons, which surrogacy experts dubbed illogical and unreasonable.

Surrogacy cannot be seen as illegal and immoral. The draft Bill is both draconian and unreasonable. It is a
violation of the reproductive right of the surrogate mother, said Hari G Ramasubramanian, surrogacy law expert
and founder of Indian Surrogacy Law Centre and Gift Life Egg bank, Chennai. He questioned: How many people
actually have someone who will be willing to be a surrogate.

Mr. Ramasubramanian said the draft Bill even banned egg donation that would only ensure that a sizeable
number of people seeking IVF treatment would not be able to take it up now.

Key aspects of the Bill

1. The draft surrogacy Bill aims at regulating commissioning of surrogacy in the country in a proper manner.

2. As per the 2009 Law Commission Report, the assisted reproduction treatment industry is Rs. 25,000 crore
industry.

3. The Bill aims to prevent exploitation of women, especially those in rural and tribal areas.

4. The Bill promises to ensure parentage of children born out of surrogacy is legal and transparent.
5. The new Bill proposes complete ban on commercial surrogacy.

6. As per the Bill, only legally-wedded Indian couples can have children through surrogacy, provided at least one
of them have been proven to have fertility-related issues.

7. Foreigners, even Overseas Indians, are barred from commissioning surrogacy.

8. A woman will be allowed to become a surrogate mother only for altruistic purpose and under no circumstances
money shall be paid to her, except for medical expenses.

9. Unmarried couples, single parents, live-in partners and homosexuals cannot opt for surrogacy as per the new
bill.

10. Surrogacy regulation board will be set-up at Central and State-level.

With the aim of putting an end to the exploitation of poor women who agree to
become surrogate mothers for money, the Union Cabinet recently cleared the
Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016. It allows ethical surrogacy to the married
infertile couples.

Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill

Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill

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The Union Cabinet recently approved the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2016,
banning commercial surrogacy in India. The surrogacy bill aims to prohibit
potential exploitation of surrogate mothers and children born through surrogacy.

Listed below are 12 important points of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2016 you
should know:
1. According to the Bill, only Indian couples, who have been married for atleast 5
years can opt for surrogacy, provided at least one of them have been proven to
have fertility-related issues.

2. Only close relatives, not necessarily related by blood, will be able to offer
altruistic surrogacy to the eligible couples.

3. The new Bill has put a complete ban on commercial surrogacy.

4. It also bans unmarried people, live-in couples and homosexuals from opting for
altruistic surrogacy. Now, foreigners, even Overseas Indians, cannot commission
surrogacy.

5. A woman can become a surrogate mother only for altruistic purpose and under
no circumstances she will be paid for it, although payment can be made towards
medical expenses.

6. Surrogacy regulation board will be set-up at both Central and State-level.

7. The law will be applicable to the whole of India, except for the state of Jammu
and Kashmir.

8. All Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) clinics will need to be registered.

9. Surrogacy clinics will be allowed to charge for the services rendered in the
course of surrogacy, but the surrogate mother cannot be paid.

10. Commercial surrogacy, abandoning the surrogate child, exploitation of

surrogate mother, selling/import of human embryo have all been categorised as
violations that are punishable by a jail term of at least 10 years and a fine of up
to Rs 10 lakh.
11.Under the new bill, the clinics will have to maintain records of surrogacy for
25 years.

12. The surrogate child will have the same rights of as that of a biological child.