Mumbai (By Jyoti Shelar/ Mumbai Mirror) : In a first,
Maharashtra has got its own set of guidelines to regulate surrogacy in the
state. A twomember team comprising top gynaecologists, appointed by the
Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC), has formulated state-specific surrogacy
guidelines and the draft was submitted to the council for scrutiny last week.
The team comprises
eminent gynaecologist Dr Sanjay Gupte from Pune and gynaecologist Dr Bipin
Pandit from Mumbai. The decision to form the guidelines was triggered in April,
after the Foreign Regional Registration Office (FRRO) pulled up city's top
three surrogacy clinics for flouting visa norms related to couples seeking
surrogacy.
MMC has also
planned to appoint a state-level committee as a watchdog and convert these
guidelines into regulations so that action can be initiated against those
flouting the norms.
"The
guidelines cover all stakeholders in the process of surrogacy- mainly the
surrogate, the couple commissioning the procedure and the doctor," said
MMC president Dr Kishore Taori, adding that the draft has been passed, barring
a few minor changes.
Surrogacy has
continued to be in a grey zone with only a set of Indian Council of Medical
Research (ICMR) guidelines formulated in 2005. The Surrogacy Bill is in its
final stages but pending in the parliament. Most doctors do not follow the ICMR
guidelines properly due to absence of a watchdog.
Therefore, Dr Gupte
and Dr Pandit have called for a watchdog committee, consisting of two MMC
members, two representatives from the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)
centres, arepresentative from the ART bank and arepresentative from an NGO.
"Besides, the
couple commissioning the surrogacy should be married for at least two years,
should have an authorisation from a doctor confirming fertility issues and a
letter from the embassy stating that the baby will get a passport. The couple
should be in the country on a medical visa," the guidelines stated.
According to Dr
Pandit, surrogates mostly come from a poor background and their exploitation is
common. The new set of guidelines states that a surrogate cannot rent her womb
for more than three times, has to be between 21-45 years of age and the
responsibility to certify that her womb is capable of child bearing rests on
the ART centre. The guidelines also allow a relative of the couple to be a
surrogate and make it mandatory for the couple to appoint a local guardian to
take care of the surrogate.
IN FIGURES
♦ Mumbai has
maximum number of surrogacy clinics in the country
♦ Couples from
English-speaking countries such as the US, UK and Australia, form the largest
chunk of the clientele.
♦ A couple has to
shell anywhere between Rs 12-15 lakh for the procedure
♦ Well-known
clinics in Mumbai take more than 100 surrogacy cases per year
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