Surrogacy law faces challenge in court
- June 6, 2022
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Surrogacy law faces challenge in court
Concept:
Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021
- Under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, a woman who is a widow or a divorcee between the age of 35 to 45 years or a couple, defined as a legally married woman and man, can avail of surrogacy if they have a medical condition necessitating this option.
- The law defines a couple as a married Indian “man and woman” and prescribes an age band of 23 to 50 for the woman and 26 to 55 for the man to opt for surrogacy.
- Single men are not eligible.
- It also bans commercial surrogacy, which is punishable with a jail term of 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakhs.
- The law allows only altruistic surrogacy where no money exchanges hands and where a surrogate mother is genetically related to those seeking a child, a married woman between the age of 25 and 35.
Challenges
- Against the right to choice:
- Freedom given to citizens under the Constitution to exercise reproductive choice.
- Exploitation of the Surrogate and the Child
- One could argue that the state must stop the exploitation of poor women under surrogacy and protect the child’s right to be born. However, the current Act fails to balance these two interests.
- Reinforces Patriarchal Norms
- The Act reinforces traditional patriarchal norms of our society that attributes no economic value to women’s work and, directly affecting the fundamental rights of the women to reproduce under Article 21 of the constitution.
- Denies Legitimate income to Surrogates
- Banning commercial surrogacy also denies a legitimate source of income of the surrogates, further limiting the number of women willingly to surrogate.
- Overall, this step indirectly denies children to the couples choosing to embrace parenthood.
- Emotional Complications
- In altruistic surrogacy, a friend or relative as a surrogate mother may lead to emotional complications not only for the intended parents but also for the surrogate child as there is great deal of risk to the relationship in the course of surrogacy period and post birth.
- Altruistic surrogacy also limits the option of the intending couple in choosing a surrogate mother as very limited relatives will be ready to undergo the process.
- No Third-Party Involvement
- In an altruistic surrogacy, there is no third-party involvement.
- A third-party involvement ensures that the intended couple will bear and support the medical and other miscellaneous expenses during the surrogacy process.
- Overall, a third party helps both the intended couple and the surrogate mother navigate through the complex process, which may not be possible in the case of altruistic surrogacy.