Question: Lok Sabha passed the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019. Which of the following statement is incorrect about this Bill?
(a) The bill aims to prohibit commercial surrogacy in India
(b) It was passed on August 5, 2019
(c) It allows only close relative of eligible intended couple to be surrogate mother
(d) The couples who intend for surrogate child, may be either Indian or foreign citizen
Answer: (d)
Related facts:
- On 5th August, 2019, Lok Sabha passed the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 through a voice vote. It was introduced in the Lok Sabha by the Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan.
Surrogacy as defined by the Bill:
- It defines surrogacy as a practice where a woman gives birth to a child for an intending couple with the intention to hand over the child after the birth to the intending couple.
Need for surrogacy laws:
- Philanthropically surrogacy may be the good practice if it is utilized to provide childless couples who are unable to give birth to a child naturally by themselves but the problem emerges when unethical practices, exploitation of surrogate mothers, abandonment of children born out of surrogacy surfaces in the society.
- If one could go deeper into the details, will find rackets involving intermediaries importing human embryos and gametes.
- There have been such reports which are related to above mentioned problems as India has emerged as a surrogacy hub for couples from other countries and
Provisions of the Bill:
- According to the 228th report of the Law Commission the bill proposed the prohibition of commercial surrogacy and allowed only altruistic surrogacy.
- It allows only close relative of eligible intended couple to be surrogate mother.
- The surrogate mother must also having been married, having child of her own and must be between 25 and 35 years of age.
- The intending couple should have a certificate of essentiality and a certificate of eligibility issued by the appropriate authority.
- The couple should be Indian citizens and married for at least 5 years with the age between 23 to 50 years for a woman and between 26 to 55 years old for a man.
- Such couples do not have any surviving child (biological, adopted or surrogate) and meet other conditions that may be specified by regulations.
- The bill proposes to regulate surrogacy as it provided that the central and the state governments shall constitute the National Surrogacy Board (NSB) and the State Surrogacy Boards (SSB) respectively.
- The Central and State governments shall appoint one or more appropriate authorities within 90 days of the Bill becoming an Act.
Criteria for surrogate mother in the bill:
- The surrogate mother has to be a close relative of the intending couple.
- She should be a married woman of 25 to 35 years of age and having a child of her own.
- She could become surrogate only once in her lifetime and possess a certificate of medical and psychological fitness for surrogacy.
- The surrogate mother cannot provide her own gametes for surrogacy.
Punishment for violating or crossing the boundary of surrogacy law:
- The penalty for offences is imprisonment up to 10 years and a fine which may extend to Rs 10 lakh.
The fit case or the conditions in which surrogacy is permitted:
- Surrogacy could only be allowed when the intending couples suffer from proven infertility.
- It should be altruistic, not for commercial purposes, not for producing children for sale, prostitution or other forms of exploitation and for any condition or disease specified through regulations.
Link:
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/lok-sabha-passes-surrogacy-bill/article28824277.ece
https://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/surrogacy-regulation-bill-2019
http://newsonair.com/Main-News-Details.aspx?id=369690