The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha with the intent of facilitating altruistic surrogacy, only among relatives, in India. By regulating surrogacy, it will put an end to the commerce that seems to have pervaded the sector, leaving a lot of women from under-privileged backgrounds who lend their wombs worse off than they were. Here, two experts — Dr. Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, West Bengal MP, gynaecologist and fertility expert, and Gita Aravamudan, award-winning journalist with an interest in gender issues and author of Baby Makers: The Story of Indian Surrogacy , analyse the many ramifications of the Bill and make suggestions to improve it.
