Commercial surrogacy is thriving in India due to lack of legislation and regulation, says Bhartruhari
New Delhi: Amid uproar, the Lok Sabha Wednesday passed the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 to stop exploitation of women and ban commercial surrogacy.
Union Health Minister JP Nadda said in the House that the Bill aims to regulate the commissioning of surrogacy.
The commissioning couple must be Indian citizens who are legally married with at least one of them being infertile. The surrogate mother must be a close relative who has been married and having a child of her own. No payment other than medical expenses should be made to the surrogate mother.
Significantly, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) sought clarifications on some of the provisions of Surrogacy Bill.
Speaking on behalf of the party, BJD Parliamentary Party leader Bhartruhari Mahtab said the Bill doesn’t define the term ‘close relative’, who can become a surrogate mother.
“The Bill says ‘only a close relative can be a surrogate mother’, but it does not clarify who the close relative is,” said Mahtab.
He also said the Bill provides for an eligibility certificate from an authority to the surrogate mother and the commissioning couple to initiate the surrogacy process.
“This Bill specifies various eligibility conditions for couples planning surrogacy. In order to initiate the procedure, the surrogate mother and the couple are required to obtain a certificate of eligibility and essentiality fulfilling various conditions. However, the Bill doesn’t specify a time limit for obtaining the certificate and neither does it specify a review procedure if the application gets rejected,” Mahtab said.
The BJD leader also said that commercial surrogacy is thriving in India due to lack of legislation and regulation.
“Our scriptures have approved surrogacy in many forms. Regulate it, but don’t commercialise it,” Mahtab added.
Replying to the issues raised by the BJD MP, the Union Health Minister said the certificate of infertility has to be given within 90 days. He said that the intending couple can appeal within 30 days if the application had been rejected.
Speaking on the issue of defining close relatives raised by Mahtab, Nadda said it will be decided later while framing rules.
The Bill provides for 10 years imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh for undertaking surrogacy for a fee, advertising it or exploiting the surrogate mother in any manner.