Surrogacy Regulation Bill News

The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019, defines surrogacy as a practice where a woman gives birth to a child for an intending couple with the intention to hand over the child after the birth to the intending couple. The Bill prohibits commercial surrogacy and allows "altruistic surrogacy" which does not involve monetary compensation to the surrogate mother apart from medical expenses and insurance coverage during the pregnancy.

The government on Tuesday listed its legislative agenda for the Winter Session of Parliament, beginning from Wednesday, which includes passage of pending legislation for rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the surrogacy regulation bill.

Leading gynaecologists have termed the government nod to the Surrogacy Regulation Bill, that bans commercial surrogacy, as a black day, and say it will lead to malpractices like surreptitious and illegal surrogacy, that is rampant in kidney transplantation.