Surrogacy Regulation Bill passed in Lok Sabha; Here is all you need to know

The bill seeks to impose a complete ban on the practice of commercial surrogacy.

This winter session would be the last full-fledged Parliament session before the Lok Sabha polls. The results of the assembly elections, in which both the ruling BJP and the Congress have high stakes, are bound to cast a shadow on parliamentary proceedings.

New Delhi: Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Surrogacy Regulation Bill 2016 that seeks to stop commercial surrogacy amid din over Rafale and Cauvery issues. Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda introduced the Bill arguing that commercial surrogacy needs to be stopped to prevent exploitation of women. Nadda said he fully opposes commercial surrogacy, which is an arrangement where a woman agrees to conceive, undergo full term of pregnancy and give birth to a child or children for another person or family. The set up of commercial surrogacy is often looked at as exploitation of economically weaker women. The bill seeks to regulate the commissioning of surrogacy so as to prevent exploitation of women, especially those in rural areas and to completely ban commercial surrogacy. It aims to ensure that the parentage of children born out of surrogacy is “legal and transparent”. Only married Indian couples can have children through surrogacy if at least one of them has fertility issues, as per the bill. It seeks to allow surrogacy for altruistic reasons and prevent an exchange of money. The bill clamps down on surrogacy shops, allowing only altruistic surrogacy, meaning that apart from the basic costs of child delivery, no other gratification (in cash or kind) shall be paid to the surrogate mother. It also restricts surrogacy by only a “close relative”. It also bans any sort of compensation, exceeding the medical expenses of childbirth, to be paid to the surrogate mother. After a serious debate on the bill, Nadda acknowledged the quality of debate. NCP MP Supriya Sule advocated that fertile couples who may not have children due to medical reasons should not be left out. She argued that allowing only married couples to go for surrogacy would be ignoring other family structures. Single parents should also be allowed to have surrogates as well, she said. After extensive debate the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha. The Lok Sabha saw repeated adjournments, but managed to pass the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill amid loud din. The Lok Sabha has so far passed two bills, including the one on Rights for Transgenders.