Draft surrogacy bill to make parentage of children legal, transparent: Govt

Minister of State for Health Shripad Yesso Naik said that the absence of a statutory mechanism could lead to cases of exploitation

Provisions are being made in the draft Surrogacy Bill, 2016, to make parentage of children born out of surrogacy "legal and transparent," the government said today, noting that there may be some cases of exploitation of woman by unscrupulous elements for money.

"Yes to make issues of parentage of children, born out of surrogacy legal and transparent, provisions have been made in the draft Surrogacy (Regulations) Bill, 2016," Minister of State for Health Shripad Yesso Naik said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

He said that in the absence of a statutory mechanism to regulate commissioning of surrogacy in the country at present, there may be some cases of exploitation, in the name of commercial surrogacy, of women from vulnerable sections of society by unscrupulous elements for monetary benefit.

"In order to prevent this, the government has prohibited foreigners from commissioning surrogacy in the country and has drafted a comprehensive legislation, namely the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016, for safeguarding the interest of surrogate mothers and the children born out of surrogacy," Naik said.