A Good Tiding

That India is fast becoming a land of surrogate motherhood (it's a Rs-25,000-crore business in India) have raised alarm bells for quite some time. India has become a popular destination for 'rent-a-womb' across the globe because of lower cost (which ranges from one fifth to one tenth in comparison with the West), ambiguous law, and availability of poor women willing to rent their wombs. Though commercial surrogacy is allowed in India, experts have pointed out time and again that the guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on surrogacy and Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) are not adequate to curtail the perils of this burgeoning trade. In the absence of a legal binding between the parents and the surrogate mother to adhere to the 'guidelines' and absence of punishment for violating them, many dubious practices are reported.

Thus, the Government's recent re-iteration on a law by next year on surrogate pregnancy has come as a good tiding. Though the remarks of Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhury about off-springs of such surrogacy being used for organs trafficking may be a bit far-fetched, the law would definitely bring more clarity and curb the malpractices of reproductive tourism, which seems to have gone out of control.

Rent-a-womb practice is fraught with multiple risks. It risks the health of the poor women renting the womb, even affecting Maternal Mortality Rate. Tales abound about rampant exploitation of poor and gullible women who often don't understand what they are getting into or how their lives would be changed. Many foreign nationals have also been cheated by conmen/clinics guaranteeing success. However, what has raised a storm is the ambiguity that prevails over the nationality of the child. Does a child born to an Indian surrogate mother become a citizen of India?

What made everyone wake up to this legal quagmire was obviously the case of German twins Leonard and Nikolas, which raised questions about nationality of such children. The twins born in Anand (Gujarat), the most favoured destination for rent-a-womb, were forced to be in Jaipur for a long stretch because of Germany's ban on commercial surrogacy. Other similar cases involving citizenship are pending in the Indian court of law.

Other legal question that needs to be addressed is when foreign father of the child becomes single. Such a case emerged when Manji Yamada was born to a surrogate mother a month after her Japanese parents divorced. Her Japanese father could not adopt her, because the Indian law does not allow a single man to adopt a baby girl. It's a pity that innocent bundles of joy suffer because of grown-ups' wish to have their own biological baby at any cost and the legal conundrum.

So, the upcoming law besides ensuring that the poor women lending their womb are not exploited and their health and welfare are not compromised also needs to be crystal clear about citizenship of such children. It would be better that we don't allow commercial surrogacy for nationals whose country bans commercial surrogacy. The law also needs to protect the rights of the infertile couple, so that they are not exploited. Associations like FOGSI must step in to support the Government in bringing in more clarity on this matter.

Rita Dutta
rita.dutta@expressindia.com