Bring surrogacy centres under scanner, says MLC
andhrapradesh | Written by : Suryaa Desk
A.P. has 40 unregistered ART centres, says Minister in reply
Andhra Pradesh has 40 unregistered Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) centres, said Minister for Health and Medical Education Kamineni Srinivas on Saturday.
Replying to a question by a member of the Legislative Council P. Samanthakamani in the question hour, the Minister said a draft Bill on surrogacy pending before Parliament aimed at plugging the regulatory gaps in the surrogacy industry.
Citing the case of Srushti Test Tube Baby Centre—which headed a chain of IVF (In-Vitro Fertilisation) clinics claiming a high success rate and had cases booked against it for irregularities—Dr. Srinivas said the proposed law intended to plug loopholes and prevent commercialisation of surrogacy.
Ms. Samanthakamani alleged that A.P. had some 80 ART centres where middlemen ruled the roost indulging in unethical practices. Women from economically backward sections were enticed into the ‘embryo outsourcing’ industry.
“Rapidly growing”
She said surrogacy was a rapidly growing, yet unregulated industry where shady deals were made cashing in on the ‘baby business’.
She said the number of clinics offering these services had shot up and urged the Minister to bring them under scanner.
“Many couples from foreign countries hire surrogates here because the cost is significantly less than it would be in their native lands. There are cases when couples repeatedly opt for this technology until the surrogate delivers a baby boy. This in turn, is resulting in sale of these unwanted children and child trafficking,” she said.
Ms. Samantakamani said Andhra Pradesh had a large number of financially troubled surrogates who offered their wombs to couples that cannot have child.
Another member, Jagadeesh Reddy, said surrogacy also came in handy for wealthy couples who wanted to skip pregnancy considering it a complicated period.
Communist Party on India (CPI) member P. J. Chandrasekhar said district medical authorities should be entrusted with the task of monitoring the functioning of these centres and punish those violating norms