Life has a price it seems and parents who cannot conceive naturally are ready to pay it. However, is 'carrying a baby' a product or service, materialistic enough to detach ourselves from?
One of the major health issues that have impacted the world in the last few decades has to be problems related to infertility, leaving couples who want a child, but are unable to conceive one, in utter distress, and surrounded by social stigma. Scientists and medical professionals all over the world have developed techniques and cures to many such medical issues and these solutions are referred to as ART (Assisted Reproductive Technologies).
Surrogacy is one of the most creative solutions to childbirth for people who can't conceive naturally. It is a technique where the embryo is implanted into the surrogate mother’s uterus. The embryo could be completely, partially, or not at all genetically related to the patient/couple/parents and hence there can be no genetic connection between the surrogate mother and the embryo implanted. The surrogate mothers provide a safe, natural, nourishing environment for the infant to grow inside of her womb.
However, commercial surrogacy comes with its fair share of conflicts and polarizing opinions amongst different sections of society.
The medical tourism market is currently valued at $9 billion in India. In 2015, $445 million came from commercial surrogacy alone, with India being called the ‘baby farm’ of the world due to its enormous scale of the surrogacy business.
Sensing malpractices in the commercial surrogacy industry, the Indian government came up with the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill in 2016, which was further amended in 2019. The Bill seeks to ban commercial surrogacy with various other provisions to protect women’s rights against exploitation and it only permits married Indian heterosexual couples who have been married for at least five years and suffering from infertility to access altruistic surrogacy. As of 2019, the Bill has been passed in Lok Sabha and is pending in the Rajya Sabha. Post-approval from both the Houses, presidential assent would be required to make this bill effective legal.
The ground reality doesn’t fit this binary narrative as it's not all black and white. The grey shades are concerning and it seems like the government is turning a blind eye to both the ends of the spectrum- the parents, and the women who lent their wombs for a price, triggered by the compulsion of poverty in our vast nation. The recent bill puts restrictions on the surrogate to be a married woman between 25 and 35 years of age and to be a “close relative” of the intending couple. She would also have to have a child of her own, and she could be a surrogate only once in her lifetime. She would have to obtain a certificate, testifying her mental and physical capacity to be a surrogate. With the taboo lingering around the topic of surrogacy, carrying an unusual pregnancy could take a toll on the surrogate mother, not to say that given restrictions would absolutely limit options for couples to find a willing surrogate mother.
Commercial surrogates are subjected to various forms of abuse. Most women who are employed in commercial surrogacy come from underprivileged sections of society and there are high chances of exploitation of their bodies and mishandling of their health. They are entrenched with middlemen who often take a major portion of their income. Many women go through surrogacy multiple times in their lifetime facing undue health risks like Postpartum Hemorrhage. Unregistered clinics impregnate multiple wombs into women's bodies, and in cases where parents conceive twins but want just one child- the remaining babies are trafficked ruthlessly to mint money out of young lives. Additionally, many view surrogacy as an illicit relationship, questioning the morality of the women.
The current bill seeks to abolish their sole income source. Banning commercial surrogacy pushes surrogates into underbellies of crime, where they have no legal remedy if their rights are infringed and they become stakeholders in a crime with little control over their own bodies or rights. In 2005, when the Maharashtra government banned the rampant dance bars in the state, an upsurge in women being pushed into prostitution was visible. Women faced even more exploitation while they were earning well enough prior to the decision, and running their families. The ban was overturned by the Bombay High court in 2006, and later in 2013, the Supreme Court upheld the Bombay HC's decision. In such cases turning a blind eye over the issue and outlawing it doesn't lead to it being stopped. Such rigid measures rather shove people into the underbelly of crime, putting them at a greater risk.
Commercial surrogacy needs to be scrutinized by government agencies so that there are no middlemen, everything is documented and the rights of both the parties and even the children must be protected. The health of surrogates must be protected against any sort of violation. Along with monetary compensation, the surrogate must be compensated with better rights and a say in the process. Insurance which extends while and beyond surrogacy for complications that may arise from the process, coupled with an exclusive right to terminate the fetus if required due to health reasons, are essential rights of surrogates that are plainly missing from the discourse.
What is required is to secure the rights of participants, forming institutions and frameworks to standardize the practice and increase the surrogates’ stake in the practice. Having better rights and more choices will prevent them from vulnerability and exploitation, and earn them the respect they deserve. Involving monetary transactions in creating a human life seems unacceptable from a purist point of view. Digging a little deeper, we realize that most of the parents provide the best of resources to children to their utmost capacity. Likewise, a safe and healthy womb is also a great resource for couples who can't conceive naturally. Surrogates are life donors and deserve financial help and the best healthcare and resources.
Surrogacy shouldn’t be absolutely commercial in nature but it can be compensative at its best while still being a viable alternative for couples who can’t conceive naturally.
By Dhruv Lahariya
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