surrogacy :- target on SRK/AAMIR - Page 15

NEW DELHI -- The proposed draft Surrogacy Bill 2016, which was passed by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday, is expected to be introduced into the Parliament. If passed, the new legislation will apply to all of India except Jammu and Kashmir.

The draft bill has several checks on who is an eligible candidate for surrogacy, and also has restrictions on who can be a surrogate mother. The government, in this legislation, has also tried to define a couple in "need" for a surrogate child. Here are 9 things you should know about the proposed bill:

1. It bans commercial surrogacy.

The health ministry has proposed to amend the surrogacy laws in India because of increase in commercial surrogacy in India. from the health ministry said that India "has emerged as a surrogacy hub for couples from different countries", which has spiralled into unethical practices, putting both surrogate mothers and their babies at risk. However, instead of putting into place checks and balances for this growing industry, the government has proposed simply banning it.

2. Foreigner nationals can't get Indian surrogate mothers.

The bill effectively bans foreigners to seek an Indian surrogate mother. This includes non-resident Indians (NRIs). The Associated Press reported that the Indian surrogacy industry is at "around $1 billion a year and growing".

3. It legalises surrogacy for infertile Indian couples.

The proposed law allows heterosexual married Indian couples with "proven infertility" to try the surrogacy route. This will, by omission, keep out any homosexual couples as the law does not cover them, as well as live-in partners, and single men and women who might want a surrogate child.

4. The length of your marriage matters.

You have to be married for at least five years before approaching a surrogate mother, according to the proposed legislation. Further, the woman has to be between 23-50 years of age and the man should be 26-55 years old.

5. You can't pay a surrogate mother.

If you're a heterosexual married couple who have proven infertility, and you find someone who agrees to be a surrogate mother, you can't pay her. You can pay for any and all of her medical bills, but that's all.

A surrogate mother in New Delhi takes one of her many daily doses of medicine. Eggs from Europeans, semen from wealthy Westerners and embryos planted in desperate women's bodies. The Indian baby factories have become a growing multi-billion dollar industry.

6. You can only approach a close relative for surrogacy.

If you're a heterosexual couple who have proven infertility, and you have found someone who agrees to be a surrogate mother without payment, you have to make sure that person is a "close relative".

7. If you have a child, you can't try for another one.

If you have a child already, or you adopted a child in the past, you can't approach a surrogate mother. External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday lashed out on celebrity couples who she reprimanded (without naming names) for having a surrogate child "even though they have two children, one boy and one girl".

8. Surrogacy will be allowed only once.

If you already have a surrogate child, you cannot approach a surrogate mother a second time. And if someone has been a surrogate mother once in the past, they cannot do so again.

9. Surrogacy regulatory bodies.

The government has proposed that it will establish a National Surrogacy Board at the central level, chaired by the health minister, and State Surrogacy Boards and appropriate authorities in the states and union territories. They will overlook all cases of surrogacy and regulate hospitals and clinics that offer this in India.

The government on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court that it does not support commercial surrogacy and that a proposed new law will allow surrogacy only for Indian couples and not foreigners.

Submitting its affidavit in the court, the government said only "altruistic surrogacy" to needy infertile married Indian couples will be provided after their cases are examined by a competent authority.

"The government does not support commercial surrogacy and also the scope of surrogacy is limited to Indian married infertile couples only and not to foreigners...adequate provisions will be made in the enactment to prohibit and penalise commercial surrogacy services," stated the affidavit.

According to the draft of the new law, The Assisted Reproductive Techniques (Regulation) Bill, 2014, various provisions relating to surrogacy and rights of the surrogate mothers have been incorporated and the consultation process was underway to finalise the Bill.

Further, in view of objections by the Health ministry, the government said the Commerce ministry has restricted the import of embryo for research purposes; it cannot be imported for commercial surrogacy any further.

On a court query whether both the surrogate mother and the genetic mother can be said to be the mother of the surrogate child, the affidavit replied parentage is "very complex" and this issue will be settled in the proposed law after consultation with the ministries of Law and Women and Child Development.

Moreover, under the new law, penalty on couples refusing to take custody of a surrogate child born with disabilities has also been proposed. "The respondent (government) is in the process of bringing a comprehensive legal framework for not only protecting the rights of surrogate mothers but also for prohibiting and penalising commercial surrogacy. In order to do so, the respondent will require some time," pleaded the government.

The affidavit has been filed in response to 14 specific issues that were framed by a bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice N V Ramana which heard a matter relating to commercial surrogacy. The case came up for hearing on Wednesday but the bench declined a plea by Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar to tender the affidavit in the court and respond. The bench asked Kumar to file the affidavit in normal course and fixed the case for hearing on November 24.