Expanding surrogacy

THE Rajya Sabha select committee’s report on the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019, has made some recommendations for incorporation in the Bill that is pending approval in the Upper House. While the RS panel does make an attempt to fill in certain gaps in the Bill, it stops short of plugging them boldly. For example, it suggests that a particular category of single women — widows and divorcees in the 35-45 age bracket — and PIOs (Persons of Indian Origin) be also allowed to become mothers by availing themselves of the facility of surrogacy. If accepted, the proposal would widen the ambit of the Bill that as of now allows only legally married heterosexual couples to opt for altruistic surrogacy. However, the exclusion of single men and women, live-in couples and the LGBTQ community longing for parenthood via surrogacy is not only discriminatory but also a blow to the recent legal acceptance of their recognition and rights.

Significantly, in the case of married couples, the panel has dealt with the Bill’s twin concerns. It rightly seeks to make the process faster and simpler for them to become proud parents by proposing to not restrict surrogate mothers to close relatives. Instead, any willing woman should be allowed to give the service. Recognising that for infertile couples with proven medical conditions where normal pregnancy is ruled out, the waiting period of five years is too long, it has done away with the condition.

The sensitive matter of people desiring children through surrogacy, and the rights of such children and surrogate mothers is loaded with moral, biological, emotional and financial issues. And, women end up bearing the socio-economic brunt as patriarchy continues to reign. Thus, regulation is certainly called for, but only after exhaustively considering the complexities involved. The combined advances in medical and legal domains as well as the social mindset provide a revolutionary foundation for the lawmakers to address the core concerns. The recommendation that the Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill be taken up before the surrogacy Bill is laudable as it will clear many hurdles in the process.