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

Gaps in surrogacy bill

The Hindu (Aarti Dhar) : Women’s health activists have asked the Centre not to rush into finalising the ‘Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill, 2013’ and, instead, hold wider deliberations with women’s rights organisations, queer rights, human rights and legal rights organisations across the country.

In its response to the Draft Bill, Sama Resource Group for Women and Health, while appreciating the initiative of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) for making efforts to regulate the booming Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) industry, including commercial surrogacy, in the country, has said though the Bill acknowledges the importance and significance of ethical practices in the context of ART services, in the present form, it is inadequate in protecting and safeguarding the rights and health of women going for IVF techniques, recruited as surrogates and children born through commercial surrogacy.   

It also lacks setting the standards for medical practice and completely ignores the regulation of the third party agents who play pivotal role in arranging surrogates such as surrogacy agents, tourism operators and surrogacy home operators. 

“The Draft Bill should effectively regulate and monitor consultancies, surrogacy agents, surrogacy home operators, private agencies and travel/tourism firms, law firms involved in offering and promoting ART and surrogacy services.” 

Foreigners need proof of citizenship for surrogacy

New Delhi (Deccan Herald) : If the Surrogacy Bill being drafted by the government is passed by Parliament, any foreign couple seeking a child to be born through surrogacy in India will have to first obtain a guarantee that the government of the country they reside in would allow them to take home the newborn.

The proposed legislation now being vetted by several ministries of the union government will make it mandatory for any foreign couple commissioning a surrogacy to obtain a written assurance from the government of the country of their residence or from that country’s embassy in India that the baby to be born would be permitted entry to their country as their biological child.

According to the draft Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, the couple will also have to furnish a certificate from the government of their country elucidating that it recognises surrogacy. The bill is being drafted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in consultation with Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Law and Justice.

The move is to ensure the citizenship of the child to be born through surrogacy is intended to pre-empt legal complications after the birth of the baby. The need to legally ensure the child’s citizenship in the country his or her biological parents reside in was felt after the harrowing experience that a German couple and their twins born to a surrogate mother in India went through between 2008 and 2010.

Jan Balaz and Susan Anna Lohla had to fight a protracted legal battle as German Embassy in New Delhi refused to issue passports to their twins, Nikolas and Leonard, who were born to an Indian surrogate mother in Gujarat in January 2008. The embassy pointed out that German laws did not recognize surrogacy as a means of parenthood.

India’s draft surrogacy Bill bars homosexuals, live-in couples

New Delhi (Vidya Krishnan/Mint) : India’s long-awaited surrogacy Bill will disqualify homosexual couples, foreign single individuals and couples in live-in relationships from having children through surrogate mothers in India. The law also imposes age restrictions on surrogate mothers.

Critics said the strict norms of the proposed ART Bill will see the activity moving to more conducive destinations such as Thailand. Surrogacy is a method of reproduction where a woman—the surrogate—agrees to carry a pregnancy to term for a fee.

In January, the home ministry had barred homosexuals and foreign single individuals.

“I do not understand why the law has to be discriminatory towards unmarried foreigners when unmarried Indians are allowed this facility,” said Ritu Bakshi, chairperson of the International Fertility Centre in Delhi.

“It is fair to expect that surrogacy should be allowed in the country of the commissioning couple because citizenship of the child becomes an issue otherwise. Other than this, many restrictions imposed are not encouraging for business. A majority of our clients are from foreign countries. To expect this sector to not have commercial interest is naïve. Surrogacy is very expensive across the world,” she added.