All about the latest ART & Surrogacy Bill!

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) collectively means fertility treatments and procedures that help overcome a couple's inability to conceive a child. ART techniques involve manipulating eggs, sperm, or embryos to increase the odds of a successful pregnancy. Here comes surrogacy into play, where a baby is carried and delivered by a woman who then gives the baby to another person or couple, transferring parental rights. Surrogacy is meant to help women who are not medically fit to bear the baby. For this procedure to be carried out, the couple must undergo an IVF treatment for the fertilized egg implanted in the surrogate woman's uterus.

Recently, knowing the tremendous rise in medical tourism, especially for ART treatments in India, standard protocols for IVF centres have been established by the government. Surrogacy and ART bills have been passed to avoid commercial surrogacy practices in India. The ART bill passed by Lok Sabha and the surrogacy bill cleared by the Upper House in December 2021 is also closely related.

The ART bill is passed to maintain IVF centres' standards and ensure that the centres have an efficient team of medical experts, technologies, and laboratories. All doctors must be registered with the National Medical Commission to carry out the ART procedures successfully. In India, the need for the ART bill has been mandated to set up effective protocols, regulations, and rules to maintain proper ART practice. Besides, the primary intention of the ART bill is to support and protect women and children from exploitation.

The surrogacy bill intends to check the surrogacy practice, and only Indian nationals are permitted to avail of this service. As per the bill, written consent is mandatory for the donors and the commissioning couples before the ART procedure. Only altruistic surrogacy is allowed, and the government completely bans commercial surrogacy. Also, another clause of the bill states that the surrogate mother should be a close relative of the couple.

As per the law, compensation paid to the surrogate mother is not allowed, and only the altruistic surrogacy is considered a humanitarian act by a woman. During the surrogate mother's pregnancy, only the medical expenses are covered, and there are no financial benefits for the surrogate who carries the baby for nine months. In addition, surrogacy is a very confidential practice, and it is highly recommended to restrain the surrogate mother from getting emotionally attached to the baby. However, as per the new law where only a couple's relative is allowed to be the surrogate, there may be friction between the relatives and new parents in the future.