A recent amendment of Indian surrogacy practice had conducted by passing the Surrogacy Bill by the Lok Sabha on 5th August and in the Rajya Sabha on 21st November 2019. Based on this Bill, the Indian surrogacy practice is continued in 2021.
The amendment requires stopping to make India a ‘baby factory’ of the world. India has all the facilities like qualified medical professionals, low-cost medical facilities, and the surrogacy industry, particularly of the commercial and trans-border variety, and an indifferent regulatory regime to pursue hassle-free surrogacy.
The government of India has tried hard to prevent the exploitation of women by taking successive administrative measures to regulate surrogacy. The Indian Parliament had passed two comprehensive bills including The Assisted Reproductive Technologies Bill -2008 and the Surrogacy Regulation (2016) Bill was already passed to regulate various aspects of surrogacy arrangements. But both of these bills did not provide satisfactory impact and creates confusion among stakeholders. To solve the emerged issues the Indian Government tabled a new Bill on the same subject and initiates a new move to regulate Indian surrogacy practice.
The aim to pass the Surrogacy Regulation (2019) Bill includes protect the vulnerability and clarify every stakeholder’s rights in surrogacy arrangements. The Surrogacy Regulation (2019) Bill gives the opportunity to comprehensively discuss all aspects related to surrogacy arrangements in India. Therefore, the new rules and regulations become an effective tool for social progress.
Very shortly, a national surrogacy board, state surrogacy boards will constitute to regulate the surrogacy practice by appointing appropriate authority. This Bill completely bans commercial surrogacy to take necessary action against the progression of the grey market. The new bill also protects the rights of the child born through surrogacy. Following are certain regulations that need follow in Indian surrogacy 2021:
- The couples who seek surrogacy service needs to provide adequate convincing condition to justify their requirement.
- The surrogacy seekers must be Indians or non-resident Indians or have Indian origin or overseas citizens of India.
- The surrogate must be married and has her child to avoid infertility-related loss which may occur during the surrogacy procedure.
- Single women opt for surrogacy in case of getting a recommendation certificate from the National Surrogacy Board otherwise not permissible. This is applicable for widows and divorced women also.
- In the case of emergency conditions/complications, the surrogate mother is eligible to get insurance coverage for 16 months to take care of all her medical requirements.
- Surrogacy clinics must have registered with the appropriate authority to proceed with surrogacy-related procedures.
Indian surrogacy 2021 is conducted by following the proposed legislation. The proposed legislation is a unique amalgam of social, ethical, moral, legal, and scientific issues to harmonize the intrinsic conflict of interest effectively associated with surrogacy to safeguard the born child at the same time it protects the surrogate’s rights and the intended parents also. The Indian surrogacy 2021 legislation clarifies the legal doubt in the surrogacy process and security issues like citizenship.
Deviation from the proposed legislation has undertaken rigorous penalties to avoid potential violation and also ensure that all the stakeholders involved in the surrogacy process should pursue their role fairly and reasonably. Along with this, Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Regulation Bill 2020 has been passed to establish a regulatory format for ART clinics and regulate the surrogacy and abortion process in a better manner.
References
- https://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2364&context=jiws
- https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/the-new-surrogacy-bill-protects-the-interests-of-all/story-F4DJy6L5QsfYk57npKVB3H.html
- https://www.ibanet.org/Article/NewDetail.aspx?ArticleUid=B5C65969-4901-49A9-82CF-8DC4C8BEB1E2
- https://www.latestlaws.com/articles/surrogacy-regulation-bill-of-2020-balancing-interests/
- https://louisaghevaertassociates.co.uk/indian-surrogacy-draft-law-finalised-to-bring-in-regulation/
