Mumbai: Sushma, a 32-year-old homemaker, has a seemingly common wish: To have a baby. What complicates her dream is that she underwent a hysterectomy three years back due to a pre-cancerous condition in her uterus.
She knew then that her only path to motherhood is surrogacyand had planned before the surgery. She and her husband enrolled in a posh IVF clinic in Mumbai to get embryos that could then be implanted in a woman willing to act as their surrogate.“But Covid happened, and the government introduced new surrogacy rules,” said Sushma, who is “very anxious” about her wish-fulfilment.
The Centre implemented the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021 on January 25, 2022, to check rampant commercialisation and exploitation of surrogates by middlemen. But, in the past 23 months, most states are yet to put the new mechanism in place.
Maharashtra too started late. The state board was set up on June 13 and the appropriate authority on October 5. Kartik Gupta, a lawyer who works with IVF doctors, said Delhi’s authorities have given the green signal to 30 surrogates so far. “In Maharashtra, including Mumbai, not a single couple has managed to get all the permissions so far,” said IVF specialist Dr Jatin Shah.
The main reason for the delay seems to be “multiple stages of approvals” needed from health authorities, said Dr Kedar Ganla, associated with BMC-run Sion Hospital’s new IVF clinic. “Various departments are interpreting it differently. There also is variation from state to state and even district to district,” he said.
Under Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021, paperwork is onerous as it involves getting multiple certifications from district or municipal authorities, clearance from a magistrate for the surrogate and the final nod from a newly set up central agency. “Rules need to be simplified,” said Dr Ganla.
Sushma, for instance, believes the fact that she was born in Pune, moved to Kanpur after marriage and her embryos are in Mumbai “complicates” the process of seeking local government clearances. “My Aadhar card shows my address as Kanpur, but civic officials say I need a certificate from health officials of the civic ward I was born in,” she said.
Central instructions said jurisdiction of health authorities should be based on the applicant’s residence, but it’s unclear about approvals for the surrogate, said Gupta. “Application should be based on the treating surrogacy clinic’s address,” said Dr Ganla.
It took Nashik’s Prabodh (38) over six months to get the first set of papers from local municipal officials. “As our embryos are in a Mumbai hospital, we were initially under the assumption we would get our paperwork from the nearest civic office,” he told TOI. His wife Naina had undergone four unsuccessful IVF cycles. “The new rules require a relative to be a surrogate, but we haven’t yet started speaking to our family,” he said.
In Maharashtra, even after patients such as Prabodh and Sushma manage to get their paperwork in order, the wait could be longer as government certification of surrogacy clinics has not yet started. As per the new Act, surrogacy can only be carried out by clinics certified to do so. “In the Mumbai region, the task of certifying surrogacy clinics has been assigned to Thane authorities. The work should begin soon,’’ said a doctor from state health department.
The first state board meeting on surrogacy was held in Mumbai on November 11. “We have asked all municipal corporations and districts to set up committees as per the Act,’’ said health commissioner Dheeraj Kumar, “but the process has just started and will take time”. But for patients such as Sushma, the delay is the main problem as she fears her husband would be forced to remarry. (Names of patients changed on request)
She knew then that her only path to motherhood is surrogacyand had planned before the surgery. She and her husband enrolled in a posh IVF clinic in Mumbai to get embryos that could then be implanted in a woman willing to act as their surrogate.“But Covid happened, and the government introduced new surrogacy rules,” said Sushma, who is “very anxious” about her wish-fulfilment.
The Centre implemented the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021 on January 25, 2022, to check rampant commercialisation and exploitation of surrogates by middlemen. But, in the past 23 months, most states are yet to put the new mechanism in place.
Maharashtra too started late. The state board was set up on June 13 and the appropriate authority on October 5. Kartik Gupta, a lawyer who works with IVF doctors, said Delhi’s authorities have given the green signal to 30 surrogates so far. “In Maharashtra, including Mumbai, not a single couple has managed to get all the permissions so far,” said IVF specialist Dr Jatin Shah.
The main reason for the delay seems to be “multiple stages of approvals” needed from health authorities, said Dr Kedar Ganla, associated with BMC-run Sion Hospital’s new IVF clinic. “Various departments are interpreting it differently. There also is variation from state to state and even district to district,” he said.
Under Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021, paperwork is onerous as it involves getting multiple certifications from district or municipal authorities, clearance from a magistrate for the surrogate and the final nod from a newly set up central agency. “Rules need to be simplified,” said Dr Ganla.
Sushma, for instance, believes the fact that she was born in Pune, moved to Kanpur after marriage and her embryos are in Mumbai “complicates” the process of seeking local government clearances. “My Aadhar card shows my address as Kanpur, but civic officials say I need a certificate from health officials of the civic ward I was born in,” she said.
Central instructions said jurisdiction of health authorities should be based on the applicant’s residence, but it’s unclear about approvals for the surrogate, said Gupta. “Application should be based on the treating surrogacy clinic’s address,” said Dr Ganla.
It took Nashik’s Prabodh (38) over six months to get the first set of papers from local municipal officials. “As our embryos are in a Mumbai hospital, we were initially under the assumption we would get our paperwork from the nearest civic office,” he told TOI. His wife Naina had undergone four unsuccessful IVF cycles. “The new rules require a relative to be a surrogate, but we haven’t yet started speaking to our family,” he said.
In Maharashtra, even after patients such as Prabodh and Sushma manage to get their paperwork in order, the wait could be longer as government certification of surrogacy clinics has not yet started. As per the new Act, surrogacy can only be carried out by clinics certified to do so. “In the Mumbai region, the task of certifying surrogacy clinics has been assigned to Thane authorities. The work should begin soon,’’ said a doctor from state health department.
The first state board meeting on surrogacy was held in Mumbai on November 11. “We have asked all municipal corporations and districts to set up committees as per the Act,’’ said health commissioner Dheeraj Kumar, “but the process has just started and will take time”. But for patients such as Sushma, the delay is the main problem as she fears her husband would be forced to remarry. (Names of patients changed on request)
