Why in News?

• The Union Cabinet recently approved the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2020, allowing a “willing” woman to be a surrogate mother.
• It also proposed that the Bill would benefit widows and divorced women besides infertile Indian couples.

Provisions of the Bill:

What is prohibited?

• The Bill prohibits commercial surrogacy, but allows altruistic surrogacy.
• Altruistic surrogacyinvolves no monetary compensation to the surrogate mother other than the medical expenses and insurance coverage during the pregnancy.
• Commercial surrogacyincludes surrogacy or its related procedures undertaken for a monetary benefit or reward (in cash or kind) exceeding the basic medical expenses and insurance coverage.

When Surrogacy is Permitted?

• Surrogacy is permitted when it is:
• for intending couples who suffer from proven infertility;
• altruistic;
• not for commercial purposes;
• not for producing children for sale, prostitution or other forms of exploitation; and
• for any condition or disease specified through regulations.
• The intending couple should have a ‘certificate of essentiality’and a ‘certificate of eligibility’ issued by the appropriate authority.

When the Certificate is Issued?

• A certificate of essentiality will be issued upon fulfilment of the following conditions:
• a certificate of proven infertility of one or both members of the intending couple from a District Medical Board;
• an order of parentage and custody of the surrogate child passed by a Magistrate’s court; and Insurance coverage for a period of 16 months covering postpartum delivery complications for the surrogate.
• The certificate of eligibility to the intending couple is issued upon fulfilment of the following conditions:
• the couple being Indian citizens and married for at least five years;
• between 23 to 50 years old (wife) and 26 to 55 years old (husband);
• they do not have any surviving child (biological, adopted or surrogate); this would not include a child who is mentally or physically challenged or suffers from life threatening disorder or fatal illness; and
• Other conditions that may be specified by regulations.

What are the Eligibility Criteria for Surrogate Mother?

• To obtain a certificate of eligibility from the appropriate authority, the surrogate mother has to be:
• a close relative of the intending couple;
• a married woman having a child of her own;
• 25 to 35 years old;
• a surrogate only once in her lifetime; and
• Possess a certificate of medical and psychological fitness for surrogacy. Further, the surrogate mother cannot provide her own gametes for surrogacy.

What is the function of Appropriate Authorities?

• The central and state governments shall appoint one or more appropriate authorities within 90 days of the Bill becoming an Act.
• The functions of the appropriate authority include;
• granting, suspending or cancelling registration of surrogacy clinics;
• enforcing standards for surrogacy clinics;
• investigating and taking action against breach of the provisions of the Bill;
• Recommending modifications to the rules and regulations.
• Surrogacy clinics cannot undertake surrogacy related procedures unless they are registered by the appropriate authority.
• Clinics must apply for registration within a period of 60 days from the date of appointment of the appropriate authority.

What is the function of the Surrogacy Boards?

• The central and the state governments shall constitute the National Surrogacy Board (NSB) and the State Surrogacy Boards (SSB), respectively.
• Functions of the NSB include, (i) advising the central government on policy matters relating to surrogacy; (ii) laying down the code of conduct of surrogacy clinics; and (iii) supervising the functioning of SSBs.

What is the procedure for the Parentage and Abortion of Surrogate Child?

• A child born out of a surrogacy procedure will be deemed to be the biological child of the intending couple.
• An abortion of the surrogate child requires the written consent of the surrogate mother and the authorisation of the appropriate authority.
• This authorisation must be compliant with the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.
• Further, the surrogate mother will have an option to withdraw from surrogacy before the embryo is implanted in her womb.

What are the Offences and Penalties?

• The offences under the Bill include:
• undertaking or advertising commercial surrogacy;
• exploiting the surrogate mother;
• abandoning, exploiting or disowning a surrogate child; and
• Selling or importing human embryo or gametes for surrogacy.
• The penalty for such offences is imprisonment up to 10 years and a fine up to 10 lakh rupees.
• The Bill specifies a range of offences and penalties for other contraventions of the provisions of the Bill.

What are the recommendations of the Rajya Sabha Select committee?

• The major changes recommended by the Committee include
• It recommended that a surrogate mother need not be a “close relative”.
• It also advocated omission of the five-year time limit before seeking surrogacy.
• allowing single women (widow or a divorcee and Persons of Indian Origin) to avail of surrogacy,
• Increasing insurance cover for the surrogate mother from the 16 months proposed in the Bill to 36 months.

Why such recommendations were given?

• Requiring the surrogate mother to be a “close relative” potentially restricts the availability of surrogate mothers, affecting genuinely needy persons.
• Deleting the definition of “infertility” as “the inability to conceive after five years of unprotected intercourse” is because it is too long a period for a couple to wait for a child.
• However the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 is yet to be passed by the Rajya Sabha.