Surrogacy And Women's Right to Health In India: Issues And Perspective
Parul Mishra, Senior Research Consultant at Centre for Socio Legal Research.
Abstract
The human body is a marvel of engineering. The future of childbirth in the form of test tube infants, as well as surrogate motherhood enabled by new reproductive and cloning technology, will open up hitherto unimagined sexual options. Surrogacy is an assisted reproduction approach in which a woman agrees to become pregnant for the goal of gestating and giving birth to a child who will be raised by others. Surrogacy is lawful in some jurisdictions, and the intended parents may be acknowledged as legal parents from the moment they are born. In India, commercial surrogacy, sometimes known as "Womb for Rent," is a booming industry. Reproductive tourism is a relatively new phenomenon in our constantly globalising world. The surrogacy industry exploits poor women in countries like India, which already has an extremely high maternal mortality rate. In the context of surrogacy, this study discusses paternity concerns and women's right to health. In order to safeguard and guide couples considering surrogacy, the government should seriously consider enacting a law to regulate surrogacy in India. Patients would always be mis lead, and surrogates will be exploited, if there is no fool proof legal structure in place.
Keywords: Maternal mortality, Paternity issues, Surrogacy, Women′s right to health
