Indian Surrogacy Bill 2016: Bane or Boon?

Indian Surrogacy Bill 2016:  Bane or Boon?

 We were watching news on TV in Last week of August, 2016.

On August 24, 2016   the news in the air:

External Affairs Minister of India, Sushma Swaraj announced that the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2016, is being cleared by the central cabinet and it will be introduced in the winter session of the Parliament. She further added that this is “revolutionary step” towards women’s welfare by banning commercial surrogacy. The proposed law seeks to protect women from exploitation and ensure rights of the child born through surrogacy.

According to Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, the need for the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016, came after India emerged as a surrogacy hub for couples and the increased number of instances reported on unethical practices.

The Bill prohibits commercial surrogacy, which includes stopping foreigners from commissioning surrogacy in India, while making it illegal for single parents, gay couples and those in live-in relationships to opt for surrogacy.
The Bill is aimed at clearing the ambiguity surrounding surrogacy rules in India.

Once this news came in, news channels and social media sites were swamped with the discussion on Indian surrogacy (regulation) bill.  People were giving their comments, opinion on the posts, news shared on the Facebook, twitter etc.  I was thinking why is this issue has caught interests of so many?? Like any other it caught my interest too.

 I saw a post shared by my friend on the Facebook, which was as “Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2016- a step forward to promoting the adoption”. It was liked by many but one friend responded that “Adoption should not come as a second option”. Suddenly responses got changed right after this comment. I was amused to see the trend, behavior of people on social media sites. I started thinking that would I change my stand point after seeing the responses of my peers if the response of mine was different than them?

Various media persons, common person gave different terms such as “kiraye ki kokh” (womb on rent) child making factory etc. to Surrogacy/ Surrogate mothers.  Nobody referred to it with a decent words (not stigmatic one or sensational) as “Garbh dan” (donation of womb). Again that made me to think; Is making sensation out of people misery (in this case womb for rent by poor women) is the order of the day? Why media raises commotions on issues like this one and not offer a thorough analysis and solution.  Media does this because,  Is this a busy urban citizen needs to get a respite out of a busy day at work? Or is it how media do not engage people in an in-depth analysis but provide some gossip and some news to munch and bite !

While all these questions are going around in my mind, I came to know about the little story of “Anand”.  Anand (city in Gujarat, India) is known as the Milk Capital of India. It became famous for Amul dairy and its milk revolution. This city hosts the Head Office of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (AMUL), National Dairy Development Board of India and this is the picture of the city, which is known by many of us. Another side of the city is:  Anand is also famous for Surrogate mothers, infertility clinics.  One of the famous Dr Nayna Patel is Medical Director of Akanksha Infertility Clinic at Anand Gujarat. Dr Patel informed in one of her interviews that her clinic has had ‘1001 babies’ born out of surrogacy. 

PM Narendra Modi spoke at a public rally about how Gujarat contributes 40 per cent to India’s surrogacy industry.  I am still not able to digest this fact that the land that gave Gandhi and Modi to this country, the place where white revolution (highest milk production) took place and pulled thousands of women out of poverty is now leading in the business of surrogacy industry! How to understand these developmental and value paradigms??

Being a mother of a single child, I became bit more interested in this complex web of surrogacy. A surrogate mother at an Infertility Clinic gets assured Rs in between 3 to 4 lakh rupees in 9-10 months per child and 25 percent extra, in case of twins. Most of these women who sign for this contract are young or middle age.  According to the reports these women come to Infertility Clinic on their own will to serve as a surrogate mother.  Once she becomes a Surrogate mother, the earned money is spent for her family, on education of children, treatment of her husband or to repair a house etc.

Dr.  Nayna Patel feels that poor women’s needs make a convincing reason for the government to reconsider the decision: “Surrogacy has helped many women to build a house and move towards a more financially secure future. I want to ask critics who oppose surrogacy on grounds of ‘exploitation’: what can you do for these women? Can you get them a house; education for their kids? If not, at least don’t deny them the means to do so.”

 I now understand that a surrogate mother who is impoverished needs money to run her family. Earlier or even now some of these women were pushed in to flesh trade (prostitution). Some of them were trafficked. Now many of them are attracted to fertility clinics.  World is changing but the foes of a women remains?? 

I further looked at the demand side of this surrogacy story:  Chris and Michele Newman from Epsom, Surrey spent the last four months in Mumbai to see the birth of their daughter, Lily. The couple claim to have applied for their newborn daughter’s passport on 3 June, 2016. However British consulate in Mumbai told them the application will not be processed until after their special Indian medical visas expire on 7 October, 2016 and that they should be prepared to leave their baby behind. The couple took pleaded help from the Indian Government  in a petition, Get Lily Louise Newman Home, posted on change.org.  After the British media highlighted the Newmans' plight, Sushma Swaraj defended India's Surrogacy (Regular) Bill, 2016 in a series of sharp tweets."...Will the advocates of commercial surrogacy suggest a solution and help this baby? Commercial surrogacy is banned in Britain... Will British government give a British passport to this surrogate baby? Should orphanage be the destiny of a surrogate baby?" the Minister asked.

But on a more humane note, Sushma Swaraj advised the Newmans to acquire a British passport for their child as "Orphanage is not an option for baby Lily". Although she is strongly advocating for Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2016,  she has  assured that the Indian Government would extend the visas of Chris Newman and his wife Michele, which are due to expire on October 7 as they ran from pillar to post for getting a passport for their daughter Lily. Will they be successful, only time will tell?

Indian Surrogacy Bill 2016:  Bane or Boon?  I am not sure yet. Being a  sensitive person and mother, I am struggling to take a stand point on this.