MAKING ENDS MEET
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday announced the Union cabinet’s decision to clear a draft bill proposing blanket ban on commercial surrogacy 20-odd women of the 58 surrogates at Akanksha hospital and Research institute in Anand, made famous as the cradle of surrogacy in India, are against the stringest clauses of the proposed bill Most of these women are from families that barely make ends meet. For many, bearing a child is a ‘decent’ way out of poverty. For others, it is a desperate measure to survive Dr Nayana Patel, a pioneer in commercial surrogacy and related medical tourism in India, says commercial surrogacy needs to be regularised and not banned She believes a ban will only help illegal surrogacy to thrive and might increase cases of suicide and divorce.