Europe sends alert on surrogacy
Eight European countries have asked In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) clinics in Mumbai not to offer surrogacy-assisted treatment to their nationals without keeping their consulates in the loop, apparently keeping tricky citizenship issues in mind.
The fertility clinics on Thursday welcomed the move by the consul generals of the eight countries afer they were notified to direct the foreign nationals to the consulates before starting the treatment. A surrogate is a woman who bears a child for another person or couple, often for pay, either through artificial insemination or by carrying until birth. The surrogacy market in India is estimated to be between Rs 1,000 and 5,000 crore.
“The consul generals of Germany, France, Poland, Czech Republic, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium and Spain have notified more than ten IVF centres in Mumbai not to offer surrogacy treatment to nationals of their countries,” a doctor at one of the centres said.
The consulates have alerted that surrogacy contracts were illegal in their countries. “This awareness is important for all of us who are practising and come in touch with foreign nationals,” Dr Anjali Malpani, an infertility specialist, said.
Most of the clinics that have received letters from consulates welcomed the step taken by the European offices in India as several ethical issues regarding surrogacy still remain to be clarified, she said.
The move by the European countries came even as a medico-legal expert on surrogacy, Amit Kharkhanis, said there is an urgent need to have a concrete law for surrogacy in India and the Centre has to take up the issue on a warfooting.
“We have guidelines of the ICMR of 2005 which were updated in 2008,” he said. “India should not allow IVF as an industry for producing designer babies and therefore there is an urgent need for regulations which should be brought through a law,” Mr Kharkhanis said.
Dr Malpani said that most of the good fertility clinics already take precautions keeping in mind the problems that the new born could face in their respective countries and doctors should be made aware of these facts, she said. She said, “it was good that they wrote to us to direct their nationals in case of any surrogacy request and we understand that it is purely in the interest of the future of the babies.” —PTI
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