The Surrogacy Regulation Bill 2016 was passed by the Lok Sabha after an hour long debate and noisy protests by the Congress and the AIADMK. Health Minister J.P Nadda termed the proposed legislation as historic. This bill bans commercial surrogacy and allows only close relatives to act as surrogates to infertile couples.
India had become a hub of commercial surrogacy and surrogate mothers were being exploited. Under this bill, homosexuals, single parents and live in couples are not entitled for surrogacy. Couples who already have children also are not allowed to go for surrogacy but they can go in for adoption under a separate law. The bill allows surrogacy for legally married couples after 5 years of marriage with a doctor’s certificate stating that they are medically unfit to reproduce.
