Surrogacy regulation Bill and ART Bill passed by Rajya Sabha

Parliament on Wednesday passed two bills that aim to regulate In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) clinics and prohibit commercial surrogacy in India.

While the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2021 that Lok Sabha passed on December 1, got the nod from Rajya Sabha with a voice vote, the upper house also passed The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2020 with amendments. The proposed legislation on surrogacy was earlier passed by Lok Sabha, but Rajya Sabha had referred it to a Select Committee. The Bill will further move to Lok Sabha for final approval.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya moved both the Bills together in the parliament. “Most of the recommendations of the Select Committee have been incorporated in the surrogacy bill. Both the bills seek to curb unethical practices pertaining to issues ranging from sex selection to exploitation of surrogate mothers at the hands of prospective parents and agencies. The provisions include both monetary penalty as well as jail terms for violations,” said Mandaviya adding that these bills are aimed to give respect to women facing problems in giving birth.

The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2020 proposes to regulate surrogacy in India by establishing a National Surrogacy Board at the central level and state surrogacy boards and appropriate authorities in the state and Union Territories. The will also be appointment of appropriate authorities for regulation of the practice and process of surrogacy.

The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2021 is for the regulation and supervision of the assisted reproductive technology clinics and the assisted reproductive technology banks, and prevention of misuse.

Among other objectives are ensuring safe and ethical practice of assisted reproductive technology services for addressing the issues of reproductive health where the technology is required for becoming a parent or for freezing gametes, embryos, embryonic tissues for further use due to infertility, and other conditions.

In past few years, India has become a core centre of the global fertility industry, with reproductive medical tourism becoming a significant activity. Clinics in India offer nearly all the ART services—gamete donation, intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and gestational surrogacy. However, in spite of so much activity in India, there is yet no standardization of protocols and reporting is still very inadequate.

India has seen some of the highest growths in ART centres and the number of ART cycles performed every year. Assisted technology has given hope to thousands suffering from infertility, but also introduced a plethora of legal, ethical and social issues around it.

The ART bill also makes provisions for safe and ethical practice of assisted reproductive technology services in the country. Through the bill, the National Board, the State Boards, the National Registry and the State Registration Authorities will regulate and supervise ART clinics and ART banks.