Centre clears law to ban commercial surrogacy

NEW DELHI: India unveiled a draft law on Wednesday to ban commercial surrogacy, deciding to block foreigners, people of Indian origin, single parents and homosexuals

NEW DELHI: India unveiled a draft law on Wednesday to ban commercial surrogacy, deciding to block foreigners, people of Indian origin, single parents and homosexuals from having children through the rent-a-womb service.

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Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, who made the announcement at a press conference, linked the law to Indian ethos.

“We do not recognise live-in and homosexual relationships…. this is against our ethos,” Swaraj said shortly after the Union cabinet cleared the bill to regulate the industry, estimated at more than Rs 3,000 crore annually.

Only infertile couples who have been married for at least five years can seek a surrogate, who must be a close relative, said Swaraj who headed a group of ministers that reviewed the surrogacy regulation bill that aims to end exploitation of poor women. Close relatives “could include a sister or a sister-in-law or a daughter-in-law”, she said.

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