BS RAWAT
NEW DELHI: The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2016, that was passed recently in the Lok Sabha by voice vote, provides for strict control over surrogacy and protection of women from exploitation, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said.

Dr R S Sharma, who heads the reproductive health division at ICMR, has said that to prevent exploitation of the surrogate mother, minimum criteria pertaining to age and medical conditions must be fulfilled by the surrogate mother, as has been specified in the Act.

Highlighting the provisions of the Act, Dr Sharma said  that the surrogate mother should be married with one child, the age of the surrogate mother should be between 25 and 35 years and the surrogate mother must be a 'close relative' of the intending couple.

The Act also contains provisions to ensure that the intending couple do not abandon the child and an insurance cover for 16 months is proposed in the Act for the Surrogate Mother to take care of all her medical needs, emergency conditions/complications, said Dr Sharma, who was one of the key figures behind ICMR's Assisted Reproductive Technology guidelines.

The 228th report of the Law Commission of India strongly recommended prohibition of commercial surrogacy and allowing ethical altruistic surrogacy services by enacting a suitable legislation, the ICMR statement said.