Surrogacy bill: is it fair to everyone?
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare has just been reviewing the conditions of the Surrogacy Regulation Bill, which concerns the conditions under which a woman can opt to become a surrogate mother.
The Bill only allows Indian heterosexual couples who have been legally married for at least five years and are medically certified as infertile to opt for surrogacy.
It leaves out the following categories of parents opting for surrogacy: live-in couples, single people (including divorced people, widows, and widowers), members of the LGBTQ community, foreign couples, and couples who are fertile but which to opt for surrogacy instead.
The Committee has now, for the most part, come to an agreement that marital status should not be an essential criterion for parents commissioning for surrogacy.
Most of the respondents favored allowing surrogacy to live-in couples, homosexual couples, and single people.
They favored allowing surrogacy to live-in couples because of the societal ways of urban life, and they favored allowing surrogacy to single people because of the significance of the reproductive life of women to their social status.
Additionally, the Committee favored broadening the eligibility criteria for NRIs (Non-Resident Indians), POIs (Persons of Indian Origin), and OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) cardholders, since they cannot technically be classified as foreigners.
Additionally, a majority of the Committee agreed that infertility should not be the only reason for a married couple to opt for surrogacy. They made note of the fact that there could be other medical reasons for which a couple opts for surrogacy, and that those reasons should be taken into consideration.
The Committee also brought other surrogacy issues to the table, such as surrogacy agreement, abortion during a surrogacy period, and the rights of a surrogate child.
With these controversial issues having been tackled by the Committee with a very progressive mindset, it remains to be seen how the government will react to their stance on the surrogacy matter.
Image Credit: Surrogacy-UK / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
You may also like
Image Reference: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Family_Drewitt-Barlow.jpg
Recent Posts
- The Dosa King of the North, Jayaram Banan’s inspiring journeyBorn in the coastal town of Udupi, Karnataka, Jayaram struggled in school and failed an exam at the age of 13.
- Sri Valeeswarar Temple in TN: The abode of strength and blessingsThe temple derives its name from Vaali, the monkey king from the Ramayana, who performed intense penance at this spot.
- DGCA’s strict rules for pilots and cabin crewThe reason for this unusual restriction lies in the mandatory pre-flight breathalyser tests.
- The Dosa King of the North, Jayaram Banan’s inspiring journey
What’s new at WeRIndia.com
News from 700+ sources
-
Hassan DC holds preparatory meeting ahead of CMs visit to Arasikere on July 26
-
Manipur Congress seeks clarity from Governor on Assembly status
-
Nod to Centres debt, equity share in 2,360 crore Zaheerabad Industrial Area project
-
ED officer interrogated by VACB in bribery case
-
800 crore for calamity works in coastal and Malnad regions
-
Chhattisgarh HC seeks government response on installation of unapproved pandals during religious events
-
WeRIndia – A News Aggregator
Visit werindia.com for all types of National | Business | World | Politics | Entertainment | Health related news and much more..
Leave a Reply