The latest brouhaha around the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill is a classic case of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. In attempting to protect the woman who signs up to be a surrogate mother, the Bill has also brought with it uncertainty, tinged with emotion, a distaste for financial ‘compensation’ and an archaic sense of morality.

The whole picture

First things first: there is absolutely no dispute that the surrogate mother needs to be protected, physically, financially and emotionally. In fact, procedures done by reputed doctors and in regulated clinics ensure the nutrition and well-being of the surrogate mother.

Then comes emotional health, and this can be tricky because bearing a baby for nine months could bring in a connection at some level. But a conversation with some surrogate mothers revealed that they do feel a sense of service in bearing a baby for a childless couple, provided it is done with full consent. The attachment is overcome, they say, when the child returns to its overjoyed parents and they in turn keep the surrogate informed of the child’s progress through pictures and presents every year on the child’s birthday.

The key spoiler in this happy picture is the middle-man or tout who lures unsuspecting women into surrogacy with false promises, taking a cut or commission larger than what the baby-bearing woman receives. And as much as this is true for surrogacy, it is evident in the case of kidney transplants and clinical trials (where medicines are tested on humans) as well.

If indeed the Government wanted to make a meaningful intervention, it needed to crack down on touts across the country. It would also help if the Government mandated that surrogacy and other such assisted reproductive procedures be done only through registered clinics and doctors and all this information be put out online. Easily accessible redressal forums and helplines would further assist in bringing in transparency to protect the couple and the surrogate mother. Blacklisting errant clinics indulging in illegal practices (including sex selection) and uploading this status on the website would also ensure that doctors and clinics immunise their premises from touts.

International ramifications

When it comes to foreign couples, practitioners says that surrogacy is, in fact, well regulated. The couple need to register with the Indian embassy, get documents from their doctor saying they are unable to have a child, and they come on a medical visa.

While France and Germany ban surrogacy, the UK recognises non-commercial surrogacy and many states in the US recognise compensated surrogacy (It costs about $ 300,000 for the procedure there.). In fact, Israel is now opening up on surrogacy, and it costs about ₹60 lakh, say medical practitioners. In India, the entire medical procedure, stay, legal contracts, etc costs about ₹12-₹18 lakh in a reputed clinic. And the surrogate gets between ₹2 lakh and ₹5 lakh. In cases that have gone off without a hitch, the surrogate mothers say the money has empowered them to look after their own children better, and even plan for the future and invest in a home.

What the latest discussion on surrogacy does not address is the distressing possibility of a ‘surrogate orphan’ when the parents divorce, or the foreign country does not recognise surrogacy. Such international ramifications need to be clearly defined before the process is begun. It is unacceptable to bring in a new life and have no one wanting to bring up the baby.

Other health possibilities that need to be addressed include the birth of a baby with disabilities, or a stillborn child. Does the surrogate mother still get her payment? This needs to be ensured in clinics across the country.

But by taking ‘compensation’ out of surrogacy and making it an ‘altruistic’ procedure, the fear is that the girl child will get coerced into it, caution experts. Worse, having a biological mother close in the family could complicate matters emotionally. And as with kidney transplants, surrogacy will also bring in fake relatives and so on.

The Government needs to talk to more practitioners in the field and regulate it to make the process a happy one, and consider the rights of the child, the surrogate mother and the couple. Instead, by talking about single parents and live-in couples, the Government has only brought in overtones of morality.

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