Regulate, don’t ban surrogacy, British couples urge India

LONDON: Several Indian-origin couples protested on Saturday against the November 2015 ban in India on surrogacy, complaining they were unable to get their embryos

LONDON: Several Indian-origin couples protested on Saturday against the November 2015 ban in India on surrogacy, complaining they were unable to get their embryos back from clinics in Gujarat and elsewhere.

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The Narendra Modi government published a draft bill in August to ban commercial surrogacy for foreign nationals, including holders of Overseas Citizen of India status. The bill has attracted much criticism in India – considered the world’s “surrogacy hub” – and abroad.

Harvey and Sheetal Jassal, who had a daughter through surrogacy at Anand in Gujarat, told Hindustan Times at the Harrow protest: “Our four fertilised embryos are stuck in India, we cannot get them back due to the ban. Either allow us to use them or have them back so that they can be used elsewhere to complete out family.”

A large number of couples from Britain of various ethnicities have made the journey to India to have surrogate children over the years.

The industry is said to be worth more than £1.5 billion to the Indian economy, but there is no regulation so far.

The protesters said that their embryos were at various stages in the fertility process.