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Surrogacy Bill Passed in Lok Sabha
Why is it in the news?
- The Lok Sabha on 19th December passed Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016, banning commercial renting of wombs and allowing only “altruistic surrogacy”.
- Surrogacy is an arrangement whereby an intending couple commissions a surrogate mother to carry their child.
Introduction
- Surrogacy is the practice whereby one woman carries the child for another with the intention that the child should be handed over after birth.
- Such a surrogacy arrangement may be altruistic or commercial in nature.
- Altruistic surrogacy involves an arrangement where the couple does not pay the surrogate mother any compensation other than the medical and insurance expenses related to the pregnancy.
- Commercial surrogacy includes compensation (in cash or kind) paid to the surrogate mother, which exceeds the reasonable medical expenses associated with the pregnancy.
- Currently, commercial surrogacy is allowed for Indian citizens.
More about the news
Highlights of the Bill:
- The intending couple must be Indian citizens and married for at least five years with at least one of them being infertile.
- The surrogate mother has to be a close relative who has been married and has had a child of her own.
- No payment other than reasonable medical expenses can be made to the surrogate mother.
- The surrogate child will be deemed to be the biological child of the intending couple.
- Central and state governments will appoint appropriate authorities to grant eligibility certificates to the intending couple and the surrogate mother.
- These authorities will also regulate surrogacy clinics.
- Undertaking surrogacy for a fee, advertising it or exploiting the surrogate mother will be punishable with imprisonment for 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh.
Source
The Hindu, PRS.