During the 17th Lok Sabha, ‘The Select Committee’10 constituted in Rajya Sabha delved deep into all aspects of surrogacy through series of meetings with bureaucrats, NGOs, medical professionals, lawyers, researchers, commissioning parents, surrogate mothers and surrogate children. It also gathered first-hand knowledge by meeting all concerned at the hubs of surrogacy in Anand (Gujarat), Hyderabad and Mumbai. Thus, the safeguards have been studied, exhaustively discussed and very carefully and comprehensively incorporated in the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act,2021. The regulation of the ART services, which forms the basis of surrogacy, was also processed by GOI parallelly and The ART (Regulation) Act, 2021, got enacted in December 2021. 5. Existing Safeguards as per the Extant Laws in the Country The need to regulate the surrogacy services in the country was primarily to protect all rights of the children born through surrogacy, prevent exploitation of the surrogate mothers and provide ethical opportunity of parenthood to the needy and intending couples/women. Safeguards of the rights of the children born through surrogacy arrangements as per the two recently promulgated Acts viz, The ART (Regulation) Act, 2021 and the Surrogacy(Regulation) Act, 2021, are elaborated below starting with the relevant provisions of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021: (i) As per Section 3(i) of the Surrogacy Act, only registered surrogacy clinics can carry out surrogacy services as per all relevant provisions of the Act to ensure greater accountability, primarily towards the children born through surrogacy. (ii) Only altruistic surrogacy {Section 4(ii)(b) of The Surrogacy Act} is allowed to prevent commercial dealing of children involved. (iii) Qualifications of manpower including paediatricians, gynaecologists, embryologists, etc. have been specified for the registered surrogacy clinics for ensuring quality services and health of the children born through surrogacy. (iv) Sex selection at any stage of surrogacy is prohibited. The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT)11 Act and Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP)12Act will hold good for surrogacy processes as well. (v) Section 4(iii)(a)(I) of The Surrogacy Act outlines strict eligibility criteria for intending couples, ensuring that only couples who genuinely require surrogacy due to medical conditions, can opt for gestational surrogacy. It should not amount The Report of the Select Committee on The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019, was presented to Rajya Sabha on 5 February 2020. 11 The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, is an Act of the Parliament of India that was enacted to stop female foeticides and arrest the declining sex ratio in India. The act banned prenatal sex determination. 12 The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 — An Act to provide for the termination of certain pregnancies by registered Medical Practitioners and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. 10 Journal of the National Human Rights Commission, Vol. 22, 2023 69

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