Monetary compensation to surrogate mother might be dropped as LS passes bill

The monetary compensation to the surrogate mother might be dropped as Lok Sabha has passed the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 on Monday. If the bill also gets passed in the upper house of the Indian Parliament and becomes law then the surrogate mother will not get money or any other monetary benefit or reward for carrying the child of another couple in her womb as the bill prohibits commercial surrogacy but allows altruistic surrogacy.

Altruistic surrogacy involves no monetary compensation to the surrogate mother other than the medical expenses and insurance coverage during the pregnancy. whereas commercial surrogacy includes surrogacy or its related procedures undertaken for a monetary benefit or reward (in cash or kind) exceeding the basic medical expenses and insurance coverage.

The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan on July 15, 2019 defines surrogacy as a practice where a woman gives birth to a child for an intending couple with the intention to hand over the child after the birth to the intending couple.

The bill proposes to establish eligibility criteria for the intending couple who wants to have a child through surrogacy. The intending couple should have a 'certificate of essentiality' and a 'certificate of eligibility' issued by the appropriate authority for the purpose.