The Modi government's Surrogacy Bill 2016 has sent the country into a frenzy. Received with mixed reactions, the bill has been welcomed by some, and accused of several shortcomings by others. Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar talked to a few experts and took their two cents on the issue.
"Rigid and Infeasible"
Dr Nayana Patel, Gynaecologist
Despite the entire idea behind being a surrogate mother carrying such positive notion, the government has managed to draft a bill that implies they are extremely unfit and exploited. The bill calls for altruistic surrogacy, where only a close relative can be approached by couples to make their surrogate. Can one imagine the kind of pressure this puts on the women of a family? Also, imagine the child coming in constant contact with the relative, leading to negative psychological effect on both, the mother and the kid. All these things are not probable in commercial surrogacy.
One of the points states that the approaching couple needs to be married for at least five years. Why? What about NRI couples who plan their family with utmost precision? This bill does not work in their favour at all. Surrogates, are usually women from the lower strata. Surrogacy helps them run their families. The government stated the bill aims to promote adoption, but how can a democracy dictate people how to avail children? Every person has to have the right to conceive children who genetically belong to them.
Ironically, the bill which is framed to help the poor, is in fact, affecting them the most. The rich, they can still go to other countries for the procedure, the government needed to think what the economically backward couples would do now, that the doors have been closed for them.
"I am totally against it"
Mallika Sarabhai, Activist
Like everything else surrogacy has been wonderful for many and exploitative for many. I have seen the way Dr Nayana Patel looks after the women and their future and their economic safety. I have also seen the joy of desperate parents. The government needs to crack down on those exploiting women. This bill is unjust and homophobic, anti singles and much else. It will help launch a black market.
"Ban on commercial surrogacy, not right"
Dr Gitesh Shah, Gynaecologist
The proposed bill needed to bring transparency to the legalities of commercial surrogacy, and not ban it. If the aim is to stop exploitation of the women, what the bill should have included was economic justice to the surrogates. There are several cases where under-educated women are taken advantage of by their agents, who pick a massive chunk of their commission. This exploitation should have been addressed, and put to rest. Foreign couples come to our country as the procedure is illegal in theirs. This is where the government should have acted and provided considerable economic compensation to the surrogates.
If the health of the women in commercial surrogacy is the problem, all we needed to do was make proper provisions to make sure a woman does not rent her womb for more than 2-3 times. Regarding the clause of single parents, I would say that a single father resorting to kid via surrogacy, should be banned because it compromises the overall development of the child.
"The Bill is agreeable"
Ela Bhatt, Founder, SEWA
I personally feel what the government has to say is more or less correct. I feel what the would-be parents and the surrogate mother have, is personal. A new life comes into being and the doctor, in all this is just the helper, the facilitator. However, the whole arrangement is misused and abused, which is why it needs a law. We all know how social laws are ineffective and very difficult to impose. Our society is the kind where everything is commoditified. We do not value our cultural, social, moral, and ethical values. The only value we are concerned with is economic. One of the issues to address in this whole charade is the issue of growing infertility worldwide.
"Lukewarm Bill"
Dr Sujal Munshi, Gynaecologist
The Surrogacy Bill 2016, is neither too negative nor too positive. The bill however, certainly needs a few cuts and stitches. In the current time, looking for a surrogate mother in one's own family is very difficult. The government says it wants to promote adoption, but in reality, people are more keen on kids who share their DNA, and there is nothing wrong with the thought. Practically, the procedure that ensues adoption is very tedious in India. I do support the clause that says a couple should be married for at least five years before they seek surrogacy, because the youth in our country are married off at a very young age, and this bill will help them plan their children well. The bill should be such, it provides economic, social, and psychological help to the mother.
