Commercial surrogacy has become $2 bn illegal industry: Govt

New Delhi, Sep 1 (PTI) The government today saidcommercial surrogacy has become a USD 2 billion illegalindustry and a means to exploit vulnerable women even as itvowed not to let women in India become "baby factories". Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel saidcommercial surrogacy has also become a means of exploitingchildren also, when they get abandoned. "We want to communicate that surrogacy should be the lastoption and we in no way are going to promote the idea ofcommercial surrogacy," Patel told NDTV. The minister also spoke on Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill2016, which was recently approved by the Union Cabinet, andhas drawn criticism from several quarters. She said the government is "conscious and sensitive" andvarious issues which has not been touched so far may beaddressed in the course of discussions in the parliament. The bill is yet to be tabled in Parliament and there willbe many more rounds of deliberation, Patel said. "It’s a long process. I believe that the outcomes aregoing to be in the larger interest of the nation," she said. She said 80 per cent of the total child births takingplace through surrogacy in India are for foreign nationals. "Women in India are not baby factories. If you considerthe total number of births of children which are taking placethrough surrogate mothers, 80 per cent of such births havebeen for foreign nationals. "Why are they doing this? Are Indian women only made forthis purpose? They are trying to escape the tough laws ofsurrogacy in their own homeland and therefore they are comingto India because poor, vulnerable tribal women are easilyavailable. They give them petty money," she said. The bill proposes a complete ban on commercial surrogacyand allows only legally-wedded Indian couples to opt for it. It also seeks to bar unmarried couples, single parents,live-in partners and homosexuals from opting for surrogacy.PTI TDS TIR SCTIR