Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Commercial Surrogacy - Right or Wrong?' that was published in Newsband

Commercial Surrogacy - Right or Wrong?

There should be a proper law to regulate surrogacy. India has become a global hub for the practice of women being contracted to carry others’ babies, usually for a payment. Most of these women are with uncertain legal and compensatory protection. The Union Cabinet has approved the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016, but it has many problematic provisions. The law, says commercial surrogacy will be prohibited. But the Bill allows Indian couples, who must have been married for five years without a child, to take the help of surrogates, but without any payment.

Surrogacy is used to beget children who are genetically related to the parents when the parents are unable to beget one by themselves naturally - at least, that seems to be the logic for surrogacy (else, they could adopt, if an unrelated child is ok).

If since 2002 it was unregulated but nothing tragic as killing of people or exploited children and women have happened and people did not come out to face pellet guns then it is high time we understand the real intentions behind changing the policy from earlier draft.

Why Commercial Surrogacy should be banned while so-called "altruistic" surrogacy is accepted. What is wrong if the poor do some commerce for their benefit? Must Surrogacy also come under Big Money role to make this government accept it? It is the role of the government to regulate and see that these women are not exploited, their minimum charge is fixed, they be provided all sorts of nutrition or paid well to obtain good nutrition and all that. But stepping in saying you can't earn money this way is mean. Banning foreigners is another big negative here. Foreigners pay well but the Government seems to have panicked because of a few bad experiences which can easily be tackled with proper legislation and demanding certain legal ratified guarantees from the commissioning parents' countries without which they should not be allowed to obtain Indian surrogates. Finally, yearning for a child is a common intense desire across all cultures which this bill shuns.

Surrogacy is the need of hour for many. It shows advancement of science in this field. But, it also raises many questions ranging from ethical to legal. Unless these issues are resolved in intelligent manner it could not succeed in a jurisdiction.

Many questions remain even after passing the bill. Surrogacy regulation should address social issues more comprehensively but the bill has made a partial attempt of regulating the abuse of surrogacy rules and its technological advantages.

If surrogacy is an industry, it definitely needs to be regulated. But let us not get carried away by those who are opposed to surrogacy because it is, as they claim, against our (Hindu) culture. Let us be practical, move with the times and consider needs of every section of society. It has been reported that proposed Surrogacy Regulation law is harsh on individuals who wish to remain single but wish to become parents too. Hence proposed Surrogacy Regulation law has to ensure that those who wish to have child through a surrogate mother, are allowed to do so subject to reasonable conditions. Individuals’ right to have child through surrogacy cannot and should not be rejected because there are doctors who have made a business of surrogacy. Of course, rights of surrogate mothers too should be fully protected.

Surrogacy is not against our Hindu culture in any way but it is accepted very well in Hinduism; example is birth of Balram, brother of Lord Krishna. Banning surrogacy is not an apt solution, considering a lot of couples who tried to have a baby of their own and failed. Mandating a 5 year marriage period makes sense and it ensures the couple has enough time to have a baby before considering surrogacy.