New Delhi (Abantika Ghosh/India Express) : The directorate general of health services (DGHS) has proposed that
the option of surrogacy should be available only to married, infertile
couples of Indian origin.
The suggestions forwarded by DGHS Dr Jagdish Prasad to the
department of health research rule out surrogacy options for foreigners,
unless they are married to a person of Indian origin. The suggestions
also say that a woman may become a surrogate mother only once in her
lifetime.
The health ministry, which is engaged in a tussle with the
Planning Commission on NGO consultations over a law to regulate the
"infertility" industry, has circulated a cabinet note on the Assisted
Reproductive Technologies (ART) Bill. The DGHS is an arm of the
ministry.
According to a recent survey on surrogacy done by a Delhi-based
NGO, foreigners made up 40 per cent of the clientele, and were
inevitably those who paid the most. It is estimated that approximately
2,000 babies are born every year in India through commercial surrogacy.
According to CII figures, surrogacy is a $ 2.3 billion industry in the
country.
According to the NGO's survey, surrogate women were forced to
live in hostels away from their families for a few lakhs, a sum that
they forfeited in case of complications or a miscarriage.
There were allegedly cases where more than one woman were made
pregnant with a couple's children to increase the chances of success.
After a certain cut-off period, all but one were forced into a
miscarriage without telling them.
The DGHS suggestions, coming on top of the health ministry's
disagreements with the Plan panel on whether and to what extent NGOs
should be consulted, have further dimmed the chances of a Bill that has
been in the works for over five years, making it to the cabinet anytime
soon.
Planning Commission member Syeda Hameed said, "Organisations like
SAMA have worked extensively in the field and have domain expertise.
No comments:
Post a Comment