Bigoted nationalism enters womb - Surrogacy bar with barbs

Ananya Sengupta, TT, New Delhi, Aug. 24: The BJP-led government has cleared a bill that seeks to replace commercial surrogacy with an altruistic alternative but proposes to bar single persons, homosexuals, live-in partners from experiencing parenthood through the same option. The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 permits only "close relatives" to become surrogate mothers and only married couples with no children to be parents.
WHAT THE CABINET PROPOSAL MEANS

In the process, senior minister Sushma Swaraj also articulated the prejudices associated with the Narendra Modi government by making a series of sweeping statements promoting stereotypes and shutting out marginalised sections of the society.
♦ Swaraj made it clear her government did not approve of a child outside the domain of "legal marriage between a male and a female".
* The minister said: "Unmarried couples, single parents, live-in partners and homosexuals cannot opt for surrogacy as per the new bill.... You can say it (allowing homosexuals to have a surrogate child) is looking forward and we can say this doesn't go with our ethos."
♦ Another declaration by the foreign minister: "We do not recognise live-in relationships and homosexuality. We don't want to give them this entitlement."
♦ Swaraj added: "The bill allows surrogacy only for necessity, not for luxury or fashion as we have seen repeatedly."
Several activists welcomed the idea of regulating surrogacy, which has triggered allegations of several unethical practices, exploitation of poor women and abandonment of girl children. But they added that Swaraj could have avoided the statements that would further stigmatise sections of the citizenry.
The proposed bill will deal a blow to infertile couples unable to find the service for free, sections of doctors in infertility treatment services said today.
Swaraj called on " ma, bhabhi, mausi, mami" (mother, sister-in-law and aunts) to carry the child of their childless relatives with no expectation of monetary incentives.
Under the Juvenile Justice Act, everyone has the right to adopt a child, irrespective of their marital status.
"The cabinet has approved the bill and it will be introduced in the next session of Parliament," Swaraj said.
Swaraj said an estimate had put the number of surrogacy clinics in the country at 2,000. "What is happening is against the laws of nature and only to mint money," she said.
Fees ranging from Rs 70,000 to Rs 6 lakh are usually charged in the name of surrogate mothers for each pregnancy, making it a lucrative hunting ground for exploiters.
Commercial surrogacy is banned in several developed countries, including the UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Sweden, New Zealand and Japan.
Swaraj said the surrogacy bill was loosely based on the law in the UK, where only blood relatives of commissioning parents can be their surrogates.
The UK law recognises the birth mother as the legal mother. Under the Indian bill, the commissioning parents are the legal parents under the bill.
Reacting to Swaraj's comments, Harish Iyer, a LGBT rights activist tweeted - "@SushmaSwaraj ... against Indian ethos is the most anti-national statement I have heard. How can you call my country homophobic?"
"How will you implement a complete ban? This is a situation akin to the organ racket in India where though it is forbidden it still thrives illegally," says Ranjana Kumari of Centre for Social Research.
CSR had organised a National Conference on Surrogacy two years ago in which they had sought to generate awareness about the issue. "We wanted rights of the surrogate secured, removal of the middle-man among other things. However the Bill in its current form is an extreme one. We have taken four steps backwards today," Kumari said.
A group of surrogate mothers, who had approached the National Commission for Women last year after a draft of this bill was made public, today told this newspaper how the government was taking away their livelihood from them.
Manu, a surrogate from Bengal who was paid around Rs 3.5 lakh to be a surrogate for the baby of a couple from the USA last year, said that nothing was done without her consent.
"I was paid Rs 10,000 for nine months and got a total pay of Rs 3.5 lakh when I delivered. I have no complaints. I used to earn Rs 6000 a month as a maid and I have a husband who is physically handicapped. This money enabled me to send my children to school and to build a house. This is my choice," she said.
Congress leader, Milind Deora expressed a similar sentiment.
"Preventing misuse essential but why deny parents & surrogate mothers freedom of choice & discriminate based on marital status?," he tweeted.