A bill that bars commercial surrogacy and allows only close relatives to act as surrogates to needy infertile couples for “altruistic” reasons was passed by the Lok Sabha on 19 December with Health Minister J P Nadda terming the proposed legislation historic.

Highlights of the Bill

1.Surrogacy is an arrangement whereby an intending couple commissions a surrogate mother to carry their child.

2.The intending couple must be Indian citizens and married for at least five years with at least one of them being infertile. The surrogate mother has to be a close relative who has been married and has had a child of her own.

3.No payment other than reasonable medical expenses can be made to the surrogate mother. The surrogate child will be deemed to be the biological child of the intending couple.

4.Central and state governments will appoint appropriate authorities to grant eligibility certificates to the intending couple and the surrogate mother. These authorities will also regulate surrogacy clinics.

5.Undertaking surrogacy for a fee, advertising it or exploiting the surrogate mother will be punishable with imprisonment for 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh.