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The surrogacy bill that was introduced in Lok Sabha in 2016 was passed on Wednesday. Health Minister JP Nadda said the aim of the bill was to stop commercial surrogacy and give families the happiness of having children by using modern science.
Here are 10 things to know about the surrogacy bill:
1. The intending couples should be legally married for at least five years.
2. The Bill permits surrogacy only for couples who cannot conceive a child.
3. The surrogate mother should be a close relative of the intending couple and should be between the age of 25-35 years. She can be surrogate mother only once.
4. The intending couples shall not abandon the child, born out of a surrogacy procedure under any condition.
5. On August 24, 2017, the Union Cabinet approved the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2016.
6. The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in November 2016 and was later referred to a parliamentary standing committee on Health and Family Welfare in January 2017.
7. Foreign nationals will not be allowed to apply for surrogacy in India.
8. The bill bans commercial surrogacy that allows exceeding medical expenses of childbirth. The surrogate mother shall be paid the basic cost.
9. Once the bill is enacted by Parliament, the National Surrogacy Board will be constituted at the central level, while the states and Union Territories will constitute the State Surrogacy Boards.
10. Homosexuals, single parents, and live-in couples are also not allowed to have children via surrogacy in India.
