Even as a debate on the need to have a law to regulate surrogate motherhood rages on, the Central Government, despite making the right noises, is still to come up with a final draft for such a law.

A few of months ago, Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhury had said that the Centre was working on having a law to regulate surrogacy. The law, she had said, would contain provisions to protect the rights of surrogate mothers and the children.

This came after the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) made a presentation to her on the legislation. But, sources say, there has been little headway in the matter.

“Indian lawmakers take unusually long to make laws, even if the subject is of utmost importance. Even if a Bill is tabled in the Lok Sabha, it will be a while before it is debated upon, leave alone passed. So, the possibility of the law being in place during the term of the present government seems unlikely,” said a ministry official.

As it stands now, India has become a den of surrogate mothers. “It is a common knowledge that rent-a-womb has assumed mammoth proportions in the country, almost becoming an industry. But, there is no law to protect the right of the surrogate mother or the unborn child. This is something that needs to be dealt with. But, considering how things move in our country, I am not sure when this would actually happen,” observed Supreme Court lawyer Ajay Pal.

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