Update on ART regulation bill (Draft) 2010.

Nov. 21, 2012 - PRLog -- ART Regulation Bill 2010 has been point of discussion from long time among people and stakeholders interested in Indian Surrogacy Arena. The bill has been placed in various forms since 2005 when first the guidelines regulating ART Treatments including Surrogacy were first published by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). This was the time when world and Indian establishment started realizing that importance of ART Treatments including Surrogacy and the need to regulate them. This was one of the stepping stones and an initiative by government to regulate Surrogacy Treatment and other ART Techniques in India and also to offer them to overseas patients.  Since then Indian ART and Surrogacy arena has been a constant rise and India has earned itself a unique distinction as Surrogacy Capital of World.

According to Dr. Samit Sekhar,ivf and surrogacy program director at the kiran infertility centre pvt lts ,Hyderabad,India, the number of people coming to India for seeking Surrogacy and various other infertility treatments are rising constantly and this trend is expected to continue in coming ten years, with availability of world class medical facilities and other resources and with a cheaper tag, and less legal hurdles, people are choosing India.

According to Sai Raj Jaiswal, Head- Legal & Accounts- KIC, with the existing scenario in the arena of ART Treatments and Surrogacy the chances that ART Bill would be tabled in Parliament in early 2013 are very high. There is a constant progress being made in fields like registration of ART Clinics. ICMR is aggressively moving in a direction in which it is highly probable that the tabling and passing of bill may take place early next year.

Sai Raj Jaiswal further says that passing of bill will have various advantages and disadvantages, the major advantage being a  transparent structure being in place which will streamline the processes across the country, which are presently different in different states.  Secondly, it would mean a more visible and conducive environment for International Intended Parents, wherein they will be able to make a more informed decision as they will have details of all ICMR registered clinics which provide such ART Treatments, now these set of parents approach so called Medical Tourism Agencies only because of fear of the Legal Scenario in India and lack of knowledge and information of the system in India, it is apparent that these agencies jack up the prices and gain hefty commissions from Clients and small clinical set-ups, that try to take advantages of such scenario to make money, in certain cases the Agency charges more than double from Intended Parents than what the agency pays to Medical Facility in India. Lack of information about India and facilities in India helps agencies which collude with medical facilities in India which have sprung up in last 5 years seeing this lucrative market without the actual basic knowledge of ART. Intended Parents will get better, competitive and lower pricing as the role of agencies will be eliminated due to stringent set of laws. This will also help the other stake holders like Surrogate Mothers, Donors etc ., as they will be offered a transparent and standard set of compensation, presently all facilities pay the Surrogate Mothers amounts ranging from 1.5Lakhs to 4 Lakhs for a Surrogate Mother and 20k rupees to 70k rupees per donor depending upon various factors like the demand and supply gap, quality, and financial conditions of Surrogate Mother’s and Donors.

Moreover according to sairaj it is illegal for medical facilities in India to work with brokers/third party agencies.

Sai Raj Jaiswal states that the one biggest advantage the bill will have is that it clearly defines and will have a legal stamping on the roles and responsibilities of all the stake holders.

Sai Raj Jaiswal further adds that there are various points in the bill which are to be further discussed, debated and elaborated upon, there is a lot of effort to be put into to make a flawless system like ART registration of such clinics, points like which clinics are to be registered, requirements, classification of such clinics to provide precise information to International Intended Parents also have to be considered. With due respect to the drafting committee of this bill, factors like Surrogacy Visa should also be discussed and detailed into, one of the requirements for Surrogacy Visa is a letter from the concerned authority in the country of citizenship of Intended Parent stating that they will accept the child born through Surrogacy and give the child citizenship and passport. Now for this, points of discussion are who will decide who is the concerned authority for a particular country to issue such letter, which department is to be entrusted for issuing such letter, without even ascertaining the Genetic Link with one of the Intended Parents whether a country will accept to issue such a letter, if we are aware that a particular country accepts babies born through Surrogacy and there is a particular process laid down by that country, is it necessary for  such letter’s requirement? Another such area of concern is Legal and local Law & Order considerations , due processes also should be laid to ensure that there is a system where Legal and local Law & Order considerations also are detailed out like the processes to be followed in FRRO & Consulates for obtaining passports and exit visas?

There are many such things that should be debated upon and to make system flawless and provide a more transparent, effective and conducive ART Treatment Scenario. In his conclusion Jaiswal states that, India has a opportunity to  become a world leader in treatments involving ART Techniques and surrogacy. its Medical Processes, Procedures, Doctor’s and Facilities are World Class, it has world class Airports and Hotels, Cities to cater international clients, it also has Tourism Hotspots to attract people. Now it is upon Indian bureaucracy and government to provide an effective implementable system and regulatory.