Govt proposes to bring Bill to regulate surrogacy: Azad

New Delhi (Economic Times) : The government today said it proposes to bring a Bill to monitor the services of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) clinics and banks to regulate surrogacy in the country.

"A draft Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill has been formulated and sent to Ministry of Law and Justice for concurrence," Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

He said in order to monitor the services of ART clinics and banks to help regulate surrogacy, the Indian Council of Medical Research ( ICMR) has already framed guidelines for accreditation, supervision and regulation of ART clinics and banks.

The Minister said the proposed law will help in effective implementation of the guidelines.

"The Bill describes the procedure for accreditation and supervision of Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinics and Banks," Azad said, adding that such services needed to be ethical.

Government guidelines a wake-up call for Experts

Government issues new guidelines on surrogacy, experts call them backward, unfair

Mumbai (ibllive.in.com / Nikita) : In a big development, the Union Home Ministry has come up with new guidelines which bars foreign gay and lesbian couples from seeking surrogacy services in India. Furthermore, only those couples who have been married for at least two years can apply for babies via surrogacy.
IVF Specialist Dr Anirudh Malpani said, "This is a really a backward step for multiple reasons. If there is an alternative lifestyle, which is a gay lifestyle, why should we say that they are not going to be good parents as compared to, let's say, the traditional heterosexual couples? So I think that's very unfair. Equally important, I think this is discriminatory, in the sense that if you are an Indian gay couple or an Indian single man who wants to have an surrogacy child you allow him to do that."

Woman having child through surrogacy entitled for maternity leave: HC

Chennai (DNA) : In a significant order, the Madras High Court has held that a woman who had a child through surrogacy is entitled for maternity leave.

The ruling was given by Justice K Chandru while allowing a petition by a woman employee of the Chennai Port Trust (CPT) seeking to quash an order of the management rejecting her plea for maternity leave in 2011.
"This court do not find anything immoral and unethical about the petitioner having obtained a child through surrogate arrangement," the judge said in his order.

Babies left in limbo over India's amended surrogacy rules

(By Samaylive.com): Recent changes to surrogacy rules in India has sparked concerns amongst Australian couples who are awaiting their babies birth in India. India's amended surrogacy rules ban singles, gay couples and de facto heterosexual couples from commissioning surrogate babies.

The program called 'Babies in Limbo' aired news channel said, Australians would require medical visas and Indian government is precise about issuing them to heterosexual couples who have been married for at least two years.

Surrogacy law expert Jenni Millbank said babies could be left stateless if the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) refuses to issue citizenship to infants created in breach of Indian law.
"I think if this provokes a crisis within DIAC about the issuing of citizenship by descent then we would be facing the prospect of children born in India to Australian parents being stateless, with no Indian citizenship, with no Australian citizenship and without the ability to travel across any international border," he said.

He added that the changes are all about targeting particular people who access surrogacy, rather than assisting surrogates and the way that surrogacy is done. The program quoted a Perth based expectant parent Paul Taylor-Burn who has been waiting with his partner Josh for the birth of their twins in India.
"When we went over there in July, we were under the impression that everything was absolutely fine. You [could] enter into this as a gay man with absolutely no restrictions on what we were doing," Taylor-Burn said. He said, "we know that we don't meet the new criteria.Our contracts have been signed after the cut-off date, but we don't really know what's going to happen."

"I think the biggest worry is really: what's going to happen when we get there? Are the babies going to actually get their visas to exit the country? What can happen? Is there any possibility of the babies not being able to leave? Are we potentially going to be prosecuted?" he said.

Nearly 400 babies are said to be born to Australians using Indian surrogates in 2011 and a positive DNA test is all the Australian High Commission requires to issue citizenship by descent. However, the sudden amendments to the visa requirements would leave dozens of expectant parents currently awaiting their babies' births in breach of Indian law. Surrogacy Australia has estimated that on average 50 babies are born to Australian expats in India each year and the surge in births of babies who then gain Australian citizenship is due to rising use of Indian surrogates by Australians. The number of couples seeking to surrogate in India could be higher however, Immigration Department statistics has revealed that number of babies being born to Australian citizens in India rose from 170 in 2008 to 400 in 2011.

सरोगसी अधिनियम २०११ : तज्ज्ञ समितीची स्थापना

आमदार देवेंद्र फडणवीस यांनी शुक्रवार १३ जुलै, २०१२ रोजी पावसाळी अधिवेशना दरम्यान विधान सभेत महाराष्ट्र साहाय्यक प्रजनन तंत्रज्ञान (नियमन) अधिनियम २०११ सरोगसी) या अशासकीय विधेयकावर चर्चा करून या विधेयकाची आवश्यकता पटवून दिली होती.आमदार फडणवीस यांच्या चर्चेनंतर मान. राज्यमंत्री फौजिया खान यांनी महाराष्ट्र साहाय्यक प्रजनन तंत्रज्ञान (नियमन) अधिनियम, २०११ (सरोगसी) याची तांत्रिक मुद्द्यांद्वारे तपासणी करण्यासाठी तसेच साहाय्यक प्रजनन तंत्रज्ञानातील विविध पैलूंचा अभ्यास करण्यासाठी तज्ज्ञ समितीची स्थापना करण्याचे आश्वासन दिले होते. त्यानुसार सार्वजनिक आरोग्य विभागाने ५ फेब्रुवारी, २०१३ च्या शासन निर्णयाद्वारे या कायद्यातील तरतुदींचा अभ्यास करण्यासाठी तज्ज्ञांची समिती स्थापन केली आहे. समितीचा कालावधी समिती स्थापन झाल्यापासून ६ महिन्यांचा असेल. या कालावधीत समिती अहवाल सरकारला सादर करेल.