External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday took to twitter to defend the government's surrogacy bill by highlighting a British couple's plight.
British couple Chris and Michele Newman may be forced to leave the child in orphanage as the UK government has delayed the child's passport.
"Should orphanage be the destiny of a surrogate baby?" Swaraj tweeted, "Will the advocates of commercial surrogacy suggest a solution and help this baby. Commercial surrogacy is banned in Britain. Will British Government give a British passport to this surrogate baby?" she said in another tweet.
The couple applied for their gilr's British passport on June 3. But British Embassy informed them that the application will be processed only after their current Indian visas run out. As they have to leave India on October 7, they face the prospect of leaving behind their daughter Lily.
Last month, the Centre had passed the Surrogacy Regulation Bill which proposed a complete ban on commercial surrogacy in the country.
Published 14 September 2016, 08:40 IST