In the draft Surrogacy Bill, there are provisions to make the parentage of children legal. The Government has decided to draft surrogacy bill to make parentage of children legal and transparent. On Tuesday, the Central Government said that to prevent the exploitation of women for money especially in surrogacy cases, the government is taking steps to include provisions that make parentage of such children born out of surrogacy legal. It was also stated by Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of state for health inn his written submission in Rajya Sabha. He said that elaborate provisions are being included in Surrogacy (Regulations) Bill 2016 to prevent such situations and to overcome the challenges faced by children born out of surrogacy.
It was further said that where there is not proper statutory mechanism to control surrogacy in India, woman will be exploited for commercial surrogacy for money. To control such incidents, the government has strictly banned foreigners from committing surrogacy in our nation and has formulated an all-inclusive legislation. It aims to protect the interest of surrogate mothers and the children born to them.
The Indian Government had previously banned foreigners from hiring surrogate mother from India. It was due to the allegation that women are renting their womb due to lack of comprehensive legislation and poverty. The Supreme Court had also expressed its view that it does not support commercial surrogacy. Surrogacy was prevalent in India due to the cost effective techniques and simpler methods than any other country. There were also many cases in the Supreme Court questioning the parentage of children born out of surrogacy. In such cases, the apex court had rendered landmark verdicts considering the welfare of the children. To overcome such situations, the Government of India had decided to formulate draft bill to regulate surrogacy. It is expected that the draft bill will contain detailed provisions that give answers to all the unanswered questions that were raised before.
Adv. Jewel Panicker