'Poor Women Being Exploited for Surrogacy'

There is gross exploitation of poor women who act as surrogate mothers in the State, according to social organisations. The government must introduce legislation at the earliest to protect them and prevent exploitation, they say.

Surrogacy is the practice by which a woman carries the child of another couple to term. She becomes pregnant by some artificial method  and when the child is born, it is given to the biological parents. Many racketeers are thriving in the field. Organised gangs work hand in glove with doctors of private and government hospitals to lure poor and illiterate women to be surrogate mothers. However, at the end of the day they get cheated; they don’t get the promised money. There is also no one to take care of them.

Change India, a social organisation, is collecting information on issues associated with surrogacy and has decided to approach court for a directive to the government to frame rules on surrogacy. “The Indian Council of Medical Research has framed guidelines for surrogacy to curb malpractices, but these are not effective. Strong laws are necessary to prevent them,” said A Narayanan, director of Change India.

Sources: http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/Poor-Women-Being-Exploited-for-Surrogacy/2015/10/02/article3058484.ece