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While surrogacy laws in India ostensibly protects the rights of surrogates, moral policing seems to be the real concern, than women's health.
While surrogacy laws in India ostensibly protects the rights of surrogates, moral policing seems to be the real concern, than women’s health.
The desire to procreate is a very fundamental attribute of the human race. Unfortunately, many are deprived of the joy of parenthood due to several reasons, biological or otherwise. Developments in reproductive sciences and technologies have helped transcend the barriers to parenthood.
Surrogacy has evolved as a plausible mode of bringing a child into this world, for couples who cannot have children biologically. Surrogacy has also been a means of earning large sums of money in a relatively short span, for women who would otherwise earn their livelihood from cooking or cleaning in others’ homes, from selling vegetables or other random, unstable, odd jobs.
A draft bill which aims to safeguard the rights of surrogate mothers recently attained clearance from the Union Cabinet. In an affidavit to the Supreme Court last year, the Government had said that it does not support commercial surrogacy. If approved by Parliament, the law will ban people who do not hold an Indian passport, as well as Indian single parents and gay people, from having children through surrogacy.
I understand that there are legal, ethical, and emotional implications. And there have been instances of abandonment of the baby, health risks for the surrogate mother, citizenship issues of the child and underpayment of compensation, amongst others.
But should the government not try to regulate the industry instead and address proper implementation of surrogacy laws? The fact that foreign couples and Indian homosexual couples / single parents would be denied surrogacy is even more discriminatory and confusing. If the purpose is to protect a woman from exploitation, what difference does it make to her whether the womb is being rented by an Indian or a foreigner?
Speaking of exploitation, how many women in the country, poor or rich alike are married with the sole purpose of bearing a child? Everybody tells a man to find a ‘nice girl’, and settle down to start a family. At times, the same wife goes through multiple childbirths in an attempt to bear a male child, her consent being nobody’s concern.
In that process, she may have undergone abortions as well, much to the destruction of her physical and mental health. And these women get paid nothing for the use of their womb! Isn’t that exploitation of a woman? However, nobody raises an objection because it is all under the acceptable social realms of holy matrimony.
How is it an exploitation when an adult woman consents to carry a child for a couple in return for a monetary compensation? Should a woman not reserve the right of choice when it comes to her body?
Can the lawmakers understand the plight of a woman who is struggling financially to raise her child? Is it fair that she is being denied the opportunity to make her life better? Would people still care for their definition of ‘ethics’ if they had to worry about survival?
Image Source: Pixabay
I like to write about the problems that have plagued the Indian society. I feel that the concept of gender equality is still alien , and that has been the focus of my articles and posts. read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Being a writer, Nivedita Louis recognises the struggles of a first-time woman writer and helps many articulate their voice with development, content edits as a publisher.
“I usually write during night”, says author Nivedita Louis during our conversation. Chuckling she continues,” It’s easier then to focus solely on writing. Nivedita Louis is a writer, with varied interests and one of the founders of Her Stories, a feminist publishing house, based in Chennai.
In a candid conversation she shared her journey from small-town Tamil Nadu to becoming a history buff, an award-winning author and now a publisher.
Nivedita was born and raised in a small town in Tamil Nadu. It was for schooling that she first arrived in Chennai. Then known as Madras, she recalls being awed by the city. Her love-story with the city, its people and thus began which continues till date. She credits her perseverance and passion to make a difference to her days as a vocational student among the elite sections of Madras.
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