A bill that bars commercial surrogacy and allows only close relatives to act as surrogates to needy infertile couples for "altruistic" reasons was passed by the Lok Sabha on 19 December with Health Minister J P 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. The Health Minister 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.

Guest - Aditi Tandon, Special Correspondent, The Tribune,
Chakshu Roy, Head of Outreach, PRS Legislative
Research,
Dr. Shivani Sachdev Gour, General Secretary, Indian,
Society for Third Party Assisted Reproduction (INSTAR)
Sunieta Ojha, Advocate, Supreme Court,

Anchor - Frank Rausan Pereira