Govt for commercial surrogacy ban to guard surrogate mothers

Government has proposed to ban commercial surrogacy to prevent exploitation of surrogate mothers through a legislation which is under inter-ministerial consultation, Lok Sabha was informed today.
"Department of Health Research (DHR) has drafted a comprehensive legislation, Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill) which is under ministerial consultation to prevent exploitation of surrogate mothers," Health Minister JP Nadda said.
He said that government had issued notices to DHR conveying ban on import of human embryos except for research purposes and Ministry of Home Affairs asking them to not grant visa to foreign national (including Oversees Citizen of India) intending to visit India for commissioning surrogacy.

"The state governments have been asked to constitute regulatory authorities to regulate surrogacy as per the National Guidelines for Accreditation Supervision and Regulation of ART clinics issued by government in 2005," he said.
Provisions will also be made in the draft Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill to ensure medical, nutrition and overall health care of surrogate mothers in consultation with the Ministry of Women and Child Development.