Commercial surrogacy: Bill for 10-yr jail to guilty

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 15

Clinics, labs and establishments undertaking or advertising commercial surrogacy will face a jail term of not less than 10 years and a fine that can extend up to Rs 10 lakh. This penal provision and a range of others are part of the Surrogacy Regulation Bill, 2019, the government introduced in the Lok Sabha today.

The Bill bans commercial surrogacy allowing services of surrogates only for altruistic and ethical purposes. Doctors who own a clinic where commercial surrogacy is being done or those who offer services to clinics offering such a service will face imprisonment for a term that may extend up to five years and a fine up to Rs 10 lakh on the first offence and cancellation of their medical licence on the subsequent offence.

Even couples seeking commercial surrogacy advice or services will face jail term up to five years and a fine up to Rs 5 lakh on the first offence and jail up to 10 years and fine up to Rs 10 lakh in the subsequent offence.

The Bill also says the exploitation of a surrogate mother by any person, organisation, etc. is a non-bailable and non-compoundable offence.

The Bill seeks to regulate surrogacy services in the country and says only married Indian couples who have not been able to conceive for five years and who produce a certificate of infertility will be allowed to use such services. The intending couple should be 23 to 50 years for a woman and 26 to 55 years for a man. The surrogacy services will be out of bounds for live-in partners, single parents, LGBTQ community and even NRIs and PIOs.

The Bill says the surrogate mother should be a close relative of the intending couple, should be between 25 and 35 years and should be a married woman with a child of her own.

The Bill provides for creating national and state-level surrogacy boards to implement the law and appointing appropriate authorities in every state where the intending couple will make an application for surrogacy.

Both Docs, couples to be punished 

• The Bill bans commercial surrogacy, allowing services of surrogates only for altruistic and ethical purposes
• Doctors offering commercial surrogacy will face up to five-year imprisonment and Rs 10 lakh fine on first offence and cancellation of medical licence on the subsequent
• Even couples seeking commercial surrogacy advice or services will face up to five years in jail and Rs 5 lakh fine on first offence and up to 10-year jail and Rs 10 lakh fine on subsequent