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.

Incidentally, sometime back, officials of the Women and Child Development Ministry had also circulated a note on surrogacy, which talked of the need to regulate the same. Soon, at a conference where Chowdhury was present, a curtain raiser on the proposed law was presented.

According to sources, while the draft of the proposed law does talk of making it mandatory for the parents opting for surrogate motherhood to bear all medical expenses of the mother while she is carrying the baby, and also making monetary offers to her, it is silent on the rights of the unborn child.

“What happens if, once the child is born, the parents opting for surrogacy refuse to take responsibility or accept the child? This can happen in case the child is born with some serious ailment. How will the government ensure that such a thing does not happen?” asked Ajay Pal.

Sources and experts say till the government actually gets the proposed law passed, the national guidelines issued by the ICMR in 2005 to regulate surrogacy, which everybody feels are inadequate, will remain in place.

ICMR guidelines for surrogacy

• A surrogate mother can be procured through law firms or semen banks. All semen banks or law firms require accreditation. However, negotiations between the couple and the surrogate mother must be conducted independently.

• Payments of surrogate mothers should cover all genuine expenses associated with pregnancy. Documentary evidence of financial arrangement for surrogacy must be available.

• Advertisement regarding surrogacy should not be made through the Assisted Reproduction Technology (ART) clinic. The responsibility of finding a surrogate mother, through advertisements or otherwise, should rest with the couple, or a semen bank.

• A surrogate mother should not be over 45 years of age. Before accepting a woman as a possible surrogate for a particular couple’s child, the ART clinic must ensure (and put on record) that the woman satisfies all treatable criteria to go through a successful full-term pregnancy.

• In Indian context, a known person as well as a person unknown to the couple may act as a surrogate mother. In case of a relative acting as a surrogate mother, she should belong to the same generation as the woman desiring the surrogate.

• No woman may act as a surrogate more than thrice in her lifetime.