Increase in surrogacy
Monday - July 2, 2018 9:26 am ,
Category : WTN SPECIAL
Surrogacy is a $400 million industry in India. More and more single mothers, single fathers, and infertile/childless couples are going for the surrogate option. Surrogacy is a legal business in India since 2002 and from then there has been a constant growth in the number of infertility clinics and number of couples and single parents showing interest in this to get children.
Lifestyle issues coupled with late marriages and early onset of menopause etc are some of the reasons for decreased fertility and lessening chances of having children. Due to this, surrogacy business is thriving. The problem is, though legally there is nothing wrong in surrogacy, in India there is no legislative backing to this.
This makes the legal premises weak and grey areas many, raising possibilities of misinterpretation and misuse. In India surrogacy is a low cost affair as poverty makes women easily available. This is one reason why even foreigners come to India to locate surrogate mothers as they can have a baby at half the cost they would spend on a surrogate mother in their country.
However, for want of a strong legal framework, often poor women are exploited and forced to carry a number of babies in their womb one after the other in lieu of money, which eventually damages their health. The ART (Assisted Reproduction Technologies) bill is pending in parliament since 2010, after being formulated in 2008 to streamline the surrogacy business. It has gone through several revisions and redrafting but it is yet to be promulgated into a law to safeguard the interests of surrogate mothers, bring transparency in the financial dealings surrounding surrogacy and also monitor the ART clinics.
If the bill gets passed in parliament, it will do a world of good to several stakeholders and remove malpractices. Globally some 15-17 per cent couples are unable to produce babies and surrogacy comes as a blessing to them. In India there are no less than 2,000 to 2,300 babies born every year through surrogacy. Many single parents have been blessed with this advantage.
The only glitch that comes in the way is the legal shadiness and the lack of a proper framework to streamline the process. Once a system is in place and there is more clarity and probity in the process, better it will be for future babies and their surrogate parents.
There has been too much commercialisation that is posing danger and only a strong legal backing can lessen the influence of money in surrogacy. Surrogacy is an ethically noble job and the influence of money must not be the deciding factor. It is a life giving action and the beauty and sacrifice associated with the process must be appreciated and upheld over and above money and business. - Window To News
