Poor women stand to lose the ‘better option’

NEW DELHI: Twenty-eight-year old Devi Parmar, who was a surrogate mother until last December, says she has no idea about the proposed ban on surrogacy.

“I know so many poor women are doing it. Daily wagers like me cannot make that kind of money otherwise. This was at least the better option,” says Devi, who lives in Gujarat’s Anand district.

Now, with the proposed ban on commercial surrogacy, women such as Devi stand to lose the “better option”. Advocate Anurag Chawla of the Delhi-based Surrogacy Laws India feels that the law has been “too tough” on surrogate mothers by proposing altruistic surrogacy, and restricting women from becoming a surrogate more than once. “Not all surrogate mothers are forced by their families, or end up in a bad situation. Some use the money for a good purpose,” he says.

Devi, who got a house built with that money, seems to be one of those. But she was lucky to have been paid Rs 6 lakh as her fee. “Most women will get only half of that,” says Chawla. “So it’s hardly ‘commercial’.

Many such as Chawla feel that the alternative of altruistic surrogacy will not work. Couples from the UK — where only altruistic surrogacy is allowed — have travelled to India, paid for surrogacy, but on paper, it is shown as “altruistic”, he says.

For many, surrogacy means an assured sum of money. “Initially I didn’t know how much money I would get, or what could happen to my body. But then I got to know that it was good amount. Many women also save money for their kids’ education, or to repay a loan,” she says.

Mumbai-based infertility specialist Dr Aniruddha Malpani says the idea that poor women “can’t be trusted with making choices” needs to change. Malpani also feels that the focus should have been on the Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) Bill, of which surrogacy was only a part until early this year.

“In India, IVF procedures are significantly higher than the surrogacy arrangements,” Malpani says. The Bill also violates the reproductive rights of women who need surrogacy — a small section among those who need infertility treatment — because they are medically unfit to carry a baby to term, or do not have a uterus, among other conditions, he says.

Women’s groups have also argued for regulation of surrogacy and ART clinics, in light of the burgeoning infertility industry in India, instead of a ban.

Back in Gujarat, however, Devi is still weighing her options for a second term as a surrogate mother. “I still need the money. So surrogacy is a good option. But then, it will mean that I have to stay away from my children. So maybe, I won’t do it,” she says.