Surrogacy in India: in The Light of The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2020
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69974/glskalp.01.03.57Keywords:
Surrogacy, Surrogate Mother, Right to Equality, Right to livelihood, Reproductive ChoicesAbstract
Cry of a baby- that’s the sound a couple awaited for 22 years to hear.2 It was a benevolent act requiring help of a surrogate mother which is a gigantic industry in India. The country is being called ‘Womb of World’. Heart of it is Anand’s in the westward state of Gujarat; a town filled by women, dubbed by critics as ‘Wombs for Rent’. At present, government is working to put whole business out of business. The decision of government to regulate the surrogacy industry came in the wake of multiple complaints received about non – payment of promised amount, medical challenges and complications faced by surrogate mothers or enigma of deserted children. The Cabinet has accepted the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2020 which will soon be introduced in Parliament. It will clamp down more than two thousand under regulated fertility clinics in the country, and if passed, will put a stop to rewarded surrogacy. If looked from the prospective of ‘the surrogate’ it will end the pay checks of thousands of dollars for women, who are amongst the poorest. India’s plan to ban surrogacy would not only preclude several women from making considerable amount of money as surrogates but it will also stop people from all over globe from coming to India to have babies. The only people that could have surrogate babies would be married heterosexual Indian couples who have been unable to bear the child and who are able to find unpaid surrogate willing women. Through this article, researcher attempts to understand the constitutional pledge of equal treatment and right of individual liberty that includes right to make choices about their bodies and to earn money on the one hand and on the other to address delicate issues through cleverly designed legislation to protect the surrogate mother's, surrogate child's, and intended parents' rights.
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