Our notions of motherhood | The Indian Express

Our notions of motherhood | The Indian Express

Written by Gargi Mishra |Updated: August 9, 2019 4:43:14 am

The writer is a gender rights lawyer based in Delhi

Our notions of motherhood

Bill to promote altruistic surrogacy gives short shrift to women’s agency.

The Lok Sabha passed the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2019 on Tuesday. The Billl aims to regulate the practice of surrogacy in India and allow only “ethical altruistic surrogacy”. The Bill was first introduced in the lower house in November 2016, then referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare. It was introduced and passed by the Lok Sabha again in December 2018 without incorporating most of the recommendations of the Committee, but lapsed. The 2019 Bill is identical to the Bill of 2018.