Top surrogacy clinics under MMC scanner

Mumbai (Jyoti Shelar/ Mumbai Mirror) : Police commissioner names Bandra's Rotunda, Andheri's Corion, and Lilavati's surrogacy clinic in his letter to the Maharashtra Medical Council.
Three of the city's top surrogacy clinics are under the scanner after Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria recently raised a red flag over possible visa norms violations by them.

The Maharashtra Medical Council has now constituted a two-member committee to look into surrogacy practices of Bandra's Rotunda Fertility Clinic, Andheri's Corion Fertility Clinic, and the surrogacy clinic at the Lilavati Hospital in Bandra. The committee comprises gynaecologist Dr Sanjay Gupte from Pune and senior gynaecologist Dr Bipin Pandit of Mumbai.

Sources said that the Foreigners Regional Registration Office -- which regulates the registration, movement, and stay of foreign nationals - had detected abuse of visa norms by the three clinics. One of the main discrepancies observed was that people travelling on tourist visas were being allowed to undergo surrogacy procedures.

Surrogacy Bill set to be finalised

New Delhi (TEENA THACKER |Deccan Chronicle) : Aimed at regulating surrogacy in India, the Assisted Reproductive Technology (regulation) Bill is all set to be finalised soon. The Union health ministry will hold a two-day consultation with all the stakeholders, including the Planning Commission this week.
The Planning Commission has so far been apprehensive about the proposed draft of the Bill finalised by the health ministry. Officials in the health ministry are aiming now to finalise the draft Bill so that it can be introduced in the Parliament without any further delay.
The Bill was first drafted five years ago. While the health ministry was considering to approach the law ministry for amending the draft, the Planning Commission raised objections over the proposed bill and asked the ministry to consult them before the final draft is sent to the law ministry.
“The ART Bill that aims to regulate surrogacy in the country has been delayed since 2008 when the first draft was prepared. It was revised in 2010 but is yet to get a final approval from the law ministry,” an official said.
It is, however, learnt that the new draft may allow surrogacy to all including unmarried couples and those in live-in relationships.
Ref: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/140414/nation-current-affairs/article/assisted-reproductive-technology-bill-set-be-finalised

Maharashtra Medical Council forms panel to regularise surrogacy

Mumbai : (DNA/ Santosh Andhale and Somita Pal) : In a first in India, the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) has decided to formulate rules and regulations on surrogacy and has formed a committee for the same. The step was taken after the Mumbai police commissioner wrote a complaint letter to the MMC alleging malpractice on part of city's three leading infertility experts, who are from the surrogacy sector.
MMC is a statutory body that has the power to suspend a doctor's licence if s/he is found guilty of malpractice.
Currently, the surrogacy treatment is unchecked, unsupervised and not regularised. According to sources, there are around 70-80 IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) centres in Mumbai and 200 in the state, with the numbers rising over the past few months. The cost of the treatment runs into lakhs.