Rent-a-womb industry may be shut down

NEW DELHI: India’s government has cleared the way for a measure that would ban all commercial surrogacy in the country, allowing only close family relatives to become surrogate mothers.

The proposed measure is a blow to the thriving but unregulated rent-a-womb industry many activists say is exploiting poor women.

The Surrogacy Bill 2016 will be presented in parliament for approval in the next session.

“This is a revolutionary step for women’s welfare,” said Sushma Swaraj, India’s foreign minister, who presided over a panel that examined the legal and ethical issues involved in commercial surrogacy and drafted the bill.

“Many so-called childless couples were misusing the wombs of poor women. It was a matter of great worry because there were instances where a girl child or disabled child have been abandoned soon after birth.”

In the past decade, India has emerged as one of the top destinations for childless couples from around the world who pay impoverished women to have their children. India and the US are among a handful of countries where the practice of in-vitro fertilisation and embryo transfer is allowed. – Washington Post