An Assessment of Religion And Surrogacy

Introduction:

We human beings live in a world where there are 4300 religions. The term ‘Religion’ means the belief or faith in a supreme power, especially a God. In a country like India where religion is given more importance where people have a strong belief in the doctrines of religion, which has been passed on from one generation to another generation. In the bible, in the book of Genesis, we see God created Man and then he created Woman from Man as his companion. And then God said to be fertile and multiply. Man and woman, human sexuality, marriage and the family are connected in God’s plan of love and life. God created man and woman and to bring new life to this world, he designed marriage which is the union of man and woman. But in the present scenario, we see many couples who are infertile and unable to conceive and opt for surrogacy. It is considered to be one of the major issues in this 21^st Century where women agree to give birth to a child by using their bodies to undergo pregnancy. It is also referred to as “womb renting” where for the bodily service a fee is paid.

Surrogacy is considered to be such a topic that raises a lot of controversial questions related to the ethical point of view. Mainly the arguments are raised by the religions, which have a very strong influence on the people of faith. For those couples who suffer from infertility and who wish to have a baby which they are expecting, surrogacy seems to be the only option for them. Some religions do not oppose surrogacy while some are strongly against the same.

History

 Traditional surrogacy has been practised throughout the ages. Even in the bible, we can see that the practice of traditional surrogacy where Sarah the wife of Abraham was infertile and she wanted Hagar, who was her maid, to carry Abraham’s child. Gestational surrogacy was developed later. Harvard Medical Professor was the first person to fertilize human ovum outside the uterus in the year 1944. The first in vitro fertilization baby also known as ‘test-tube baby’ was born in the year 1978. Later in the year 1986, a baby was born also known as “baby M” born in the USA. The surrogate mother refused to hand over the baby to whom she had made the surrogacy agreement. Later the custody of the infant was granted to its biological parents.

India was a very popular destination for surrogacy, due to its low costs. Foreign commercial surrogacy was considered to be legal in India but later it was not legal in India.

In the year 2013, surrogacy by foreign homosexual couples and as well as single parents were banned. Even in the year 2015, the government for the purpose of research allowed the entry of embryos. Later in the year 2016, the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill was passed by Lok Sabha which proposed permission only to the heterosexual Indian couples married for at least 5 years and who have infertility issues to get access to unpaid surrogacy and thereby banning commercial surrogacy. The bill was also expired. Later the following bill was reintroduced and also passed by the Lok Sabha. Now the bill should be passed by the Rajya Sabha and also get the assent of the President before it becomes an Act and then a Law. The proposed legislation was Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill, 2013 which has not been presented in the Parliament and which prohibits surrogacy of those couples who already have one child, foreigners or Overseas Citizens of India, also live-in partners, single people, homosexuals as well as widows. This bill was criticised. In the year 2005, the Indian Government approved the guidelines given by the Indian Council of Medical Research in 2002 on the Assisted Reproductive technology measures.

Present Scenario

In today’s world, we see religious views plays a very crucial role. Some religions accentuate the importance of husband and wife conceiving naturally, while the use of any other process or technology is considered to be unholy. But according to some faiths, they believe that the family is considered to be more important and the process behind the same doesn’t mind at all. Now let us take a look at the views of various religions regarding surrogacy:

1) Christianity- While we see the traditional surrogacy in the book of Genesis where Sarah, the wife of Abraham wanted Hagar, her maid to carry Abraham’s child. However, the Catholic Church does not give any importance to surrogacy. According to the Catholic Church children are considered to be the gift of God and which should be conceived naturally and not through any other process. The use of any other process is meant to immoral and the Church is against IVF.

2)Islam- Some Muslim scholars argue that this process is similar to adultery and is also considered that the child shall have no legal descent. Some of the modern Muslim scholars believe that surrogacy is acceptable as long as the semen and ovum are from a married couple. But the Sunni Muslims totally oppose the assistance of a third party. But surrogacy is prohibited in Islam.

3) Hinduism- Like many faiths, Hinduism permits surrogacy but it also makes it clear that both the egg as well as the sperm should come from the married couple who will be the one who will raise the child. There is more surrogacy growing in the Hindu families as the Hindu families give more importance to the family and the process is not taken into consideration.

4)Judaism- According to the conservative Jewish minority is totally against surrogacy. Some of the liberal thinkers support surrogacy. Some of the orthodox thinkers believe that it is the subjugation of women of the use of their wombs to make children.

5)Buddhism- According to Buddhism, surrogacy is totally acceptable. As it does not consider procreation as a moral obligation. If any couple faces issues regarding infertility, they can always resort to surrogacy as surrogacy is not considered to be unholy by Buddhism.

International Perspective

We can see Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal are those nations that prohibit all forms of surrogacy. While the countries like Denmark, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and Australia have banned surrogacy which is used for profit-making purposes. While there is no such law that has been made which states the complete ban on surrogacy. Also, laws differ from one country to another. Some of the countries have residency as well as the citizenship requirements for the parents as well as the surrogate. We can also see in the Oviedo Convention which was sanctioned by the 29 countries and which says that in Article 21” Prohibition of financial gain” that: “A Human body and all its parts shall not, as such give rise to financial gain”.

Brazil is the country that bans commercial surrogacy but the practice of altruistic surrogacy is permitted. But it practised illegally. The practice of Surrogacy is even prohibited in China. The Ministry of Health has prohibited medical professionals from practising surrogacy.

In Finland, the practice of surrogacy has been made illegal since the year 2007. But the commercial surrogacy was even banned before. In Georgia ovum and sperm donation as well as surrogacy is legal since the year 1992. But the surrogate mother has no rights over the child. Surrogacy is made legal in Greece and the intended parents are protected legally. But the parents have to meet certain conditions and have to consult a family judge before starting their journey.

In India, after 2015 the foreign commercial surrogacy was legally banned. India was a fertility tourism destination due to its low cost. But the case of Jan Balaz Vs Union of India in which the Supreme Court passed the judgement that the child shall have the citizenship of the surrogate mother. In Japan in the year 2008 there was a proposal regarding the ban on surrogacy and also to punish those doctors, clients as well as agents who practice the same in any manner. But the following has remained unregulated. In Saudi Arabia, only medical procedures are permitted in order to restore fertility but the religious authorities don’t allow the use of surrogate mothers. In Thailand, after the very controversial Baby Gammy incident in the year 2014. Since then Thailand has banned commercial surrogacy under the Protection of Children Born from Assisted Reproductive Technologies Act. Thailand was a very famous destination for those looking for surrogate mothers.

Cases

Some of the famous cases like Re Baby M – 109N.J.396,537A.2d 1227 (1988) case which was in the year 1986, a baby which was born in the USA. The surrogated mother, Mary Beth Whitehead was not willing to give the custody of the child to whom she had made the surrogacy agreement. But the Court found it better to award the custody of the child to the child’s biological parents than to the surrogate mother.

In another case in the year 1993, Johnson Vs Calvert-5 Cal. 4th 84 19 Cal.Rptr.2d 494 851 P.2d 776 (1993) in which Anna Johnson who was the gestational carrier refused to give up the custody of the baby to the parents. The couple filed a case against her to get custody of the baby and the court supported their parental rights. 

In Baby Manji Yamada Vs. Union of India ( 2008) 13SCC 518, in this case, the Japanese couple who were the intended parents of the baby who was born through surrogacy. And the couple were divorced. The husband wished to raise the child but his ex-wife was against the same. In India, the child should be legally adopted before leaving to another country, but it restrains single men from adopting a baby. Manji’s intended father’s documents to travel were denied. Later Manji was permitted to leave for Japan. But the debates regarding surrogacy continued in India. This case was widely covered by the global as well as the Indian Media.

Conclusion

Like a coin has two aspects, in the same way, the practice of surrogacy can to some extend can be considered to be legit because many issues faced the couples who are unable to conceive and who are sometimes treated differently by society. But for some, this is like a commercial business like ‘selling babies’. It is depicted as an act of charity but the reality is harsher than we see. An amount which has been fixed for a lifetime and which is sold like a showpiece in a shop. There are many agents who are behind this practice where they target helpless women to be a surrogate mother to their clients, due to the need of financial help such women often become prey. Since the agreements are in English that these women can’t even understand nor read the same and are made to follow all the conditions mentioned in the agreement. Many of the women due to poverty or to help their families often fall for this to support their families. Most of the wealthy bodies use the poorer bodies in desperate situations. Sometimes it’s heart-wrenching to know the stories of many women who are exploited in this process. But on the other hand, it is a boon to those infertile couples who wish to have children.

Infertility is considered to be a curse in this society even today. According to many people surrogacy is considered to be a blessing but for others it like using a human body which affects the rights of a person. Mainly the commercial surrogacy should be banned. Mainly in India, many women from poor background are targeted. While we also see many religions which opposes the practice of surrogacy and also IVF and consider it to be immoral and unholy as well. Also, some religions support the same as it feels that a family is more important and the process of the same should never be considered.

References:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrogacy#:~:text=Surrogacy%20is%20an%20arrangement%2C%20often,parent(s)%20after%20birth.
• https://www.americansurrogacy.com/blog/what-does-religion-say-about-the-morality-of-surrogacy/#:~:text=Religious%20Views%20on%20Surrogacy&text=Catholicism%3A%20While%20surrogacy%20is%20present,a%20married%20husband%20and%20wife.
• https://www.montanasurro.com/blog/2018/2/28/religion-surrogacy.
• https://indiankanoon.org/doc/854968/.