This has reference to the approval of a draft bill to regulate surrogacy by Union cabinet. Commercial Surrogacy is basically a cruel term. India had become an international hub of commercial surrogacy. Surrogacy is exceedingly complex in its social, biological, cultural and psychological implications. Surrogacy involves a major sacrifice of a woman and it can never be fully compensated, even though she is paid lumpsum money. It is a fast growing commercial activity in India. Because of the appalling living conditions of poor people in India and due to cheaper availability of surrogate mothers, India is a favourite destination. Surrogacy in India became a means of livelihood and an act of humanity. Besides, surrogate mothers are available here in India which isn’t the case in most parts of the world. With a range of alternative medical solutions to childlessness becoming available, surrogacy has emerged as one route for many couples but many surrogacy agencies claim they are offering a legitimate service but in truth they operate in a grey area. Ms Swaraj has rightly said that, “rich people outsource pregnancies to poorer women because their wives cannot go through labour pain. Pregnancy and child birth involves of lot of pain and sacrifices. The growing surrogacy phenomenon in which women agree to have their bodies used to undergo a pregnancy and give birth is becoming a major issue. We have put a complete stop to celebrities who are commissioning surrogate children like a hobby, despite having biological ones. We cannot have a single blanket rule to govern the ethical and legal nuances of surrogacy.
Vinod C. Dixit
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
