THE LEGAL POSITION

Several clauses of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2014 have sparked debate.

The latest draft of the ART Bill, 2014 has a few important clauses pertaining to women selling their services (surrogacy, egg donation). It restricts the number of times that a woman can undergo surrogacy to one live birth. This is in sharp contrast to the earlier versions that allowed a woman five live births, including that of her own children. “Restricting it to one live birth does not mean that the woman will not be subjected to multiple IVF cycles to ensure that one live birth,” feels Deepa V of Sama Resource Group for Women’s Health.

Other clauses include placing the onus of any kind of mishaps on the clinics, and holding them accountable in case of a death or disability as positives, says Deepa.

One of the biggest drawbacks of the Bill is the clause that says only married couples can access surrogacy, as opposed to the new adoption rules allowing single parents to adopt. “This just suggests a narrow, patriarchal understanding of parenthood. Also, the Bill says that egg donors have to be married, while sperm donors needn’t be. ”

Surrogate mothers cannot have “unprotected” sex with their husbands. They and their husbands are also prohibited from extra-marital affairs. Deepa says this impinges on their autonomy.

There are other clauses that the Sama activist feels are problematic — one that allows clinics to disclose characteristics of the surrogate/donor. This could have implications on choosing the caste, colour and educational qualifications of the donor/surrogate. More importantly, she says that monitoring of the procedures will remain a challenge.

Delhi-based advocate Anurag Chawla says one of the big loopholes in the Bill remains the “discrimination” between foreign couples, who cannot access surrogacy, and PIOs, OCIs and foreigners married to Indian citizens, who are allowed to do so. “If the idea is to stop unethical practices, how will banning one group help the cause?” he asks, pointing out that the Bill states that compensation paid by Indian couples would be different from that paid by OCI, PIO or NRI, and a foreigner married to an Indian citizen.