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The government on Wednesday approved a Bill that bans commercial surrogacy, and bars married couples who have biological or adopted children, single people, live-in partners and homosexuals from opting for surrogacy.
The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016, cleared by the Cabinet, only allows “altruistic surrogacy” for childless couples who have been married for at least five years. Then too, the surrogate mother should be a “close relative” of the couple, should be married and have borne a child of her own.
Briefing the press after the Cabinet meeting, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said foreigners, NRIs and PIOs who hold Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cards have also been barred from opting for surrogacy as “divorces are very common in foreign countries”.
Swaraj headed the Group of Ministers (GoM) who finalised the Bill in its current form, dealing solely with surrogacy — in contrast to another Bill, which the department of health research has been working on for years now, seeking to regulate all aspects of assisted reproductive practices. There are enough regulations on IVF, Swaraj said.
New surrogacy Bill bars...