A bill that bars commercial surrogacy and allows the process only by close relatives for "altruistic" reasons was passed by the Lok Sabha Wednesday with Health Minister JP Nadda terming the proposed legislation historic.


The surrogacy (regulation) bill was passed after an hour long debate amid noisy protests by Congress and AIADMK members over various issues. He said different sections of society, political parties, the Supreme Court and the Law Commission have spoken against commercial surrogacy and that the bill addresses these concerns. India had become a hub of commercial surrogacy and surrogate mothers also suffered from exploitation, he told the House.


Though Members of different parties who spoke during the debate supported the bill, some including Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar of the Trinamool Congress and Supriya Sule (NCP) exhorted the government to expand its scope. It is a good bill but not modern enough, Sule said.


Dastidar said same sex couples should also be allowed to have a child through surrogacy. She also called for stopping "fashion surrogacy", saying some celebrities go for it as they do not want their figures "destroyed".
-- PTI


Image: Karan Johar's twins -- Roohi and Yash -- through surrogacy.