BJP proposes bill to govern surrogacy

Senior BJP member Vinod Tawde on Saturday introduced a private bill in the state legislative council seeking a law to address the growing trend of surrogate motherhood in the state.

Senior BJP member Vinod Tawde on Saturday introduced a private bill in the state legislative council seeking a law to address the growing trend of surrogate motherhood in the state. Surrogacy is an arrangement in which a woman carries and delivers a child for another couple.

HT Image

Initiating the bill, to enact the Maharashtra Assisted Reproduction Technology (Regulation) Act 2011, Tawde pointed out the case of star Bollywood couple Amir Khan and Kiran Rao, blessed with a son through a surrogate mother last week saying such a trend was increasing in the country.

Tawde said surrogacy raised questions regarding citizenship and age of the surrogate mother, her marital status, motherhood, parentage, rights of the child, etc. Though surrogacy in India is legal by the Supreme Court verdict on Baby Manji in 2002, there is a need for a law to deal with such issues, Tawde said.

Maharashtra will be the first state in the country to have such a law if the bill is adopted by the state legislature.