Civil society organisations have called for the new healthcare service bill to address issues such as miscarriage and other pregnancy-related complications in the context of surrogacy arrangements.
The call was made on Friday, May 2, during a session where the Parliamentary Committee on Social Affairs received feedback from civil society representatives, aimed at enhancing the bill’s provisions.
The bill defines surrogacy as a form of third-party reproductive practice in which a commissioning parent or person contracts a surrogate mother to give birth to a child.
It proposes that surrogacy is accepted if a medical doctor determines that the intended parent is unable to conceive or give birth; or a medical doctor determines that the life of the intended parent or that of the child would be in danger during pregnancy or delivery.
A surrogate mother is compensated for expenses incurred during the surrogacy process, and the amount to be given is based on a mutual agreement, it provides.
During the session, Xavérine Uwimana, Legal Representative of Réseau des Femmes Oeuvrant pour le Développement Rural, a local women-led non-governmental organisation, pointed out that though the bill requires the “intended parent” and the surrogate mother to have a notarised contract, it lacks further guidance.
“The bill should at least highlight key provisions that must be included in such agreements,” she said.
“You might agree with someone to be your surrogate, but the pregnancy may not occur, or a miscarriage might happen. What happens in that case?”
Uwimana underscored the need for the bill to go beyond simply requiring a contract, suggesting that it should provide clear guidelines to protect both the surrogate and the intended parent.
She also cited complex scenarios that can arise, such as when a surrogate mother travels abroad, making it difficult to transfer custody of the child to the intended parent after delivery.
Dr. Athanase Rukundo, acting Head of Clinical and Public Health in the Ministry of Health, said discussions will continue with a view to develop provisions and guidelines that ensure surrogacy and other assisted reproductive technology services fairly uphold everyone’s reproductive rights.
Obligations of an intended parent
As per the bill, an intended parent has five obligations. They are to identify a surrogate mother; to cover all medical expenses related to the surrogacy process up to six weeks after delivery; to avoid harassing the surrogate mother; to accept the outcome of the pregnancy; and to raise the child.
Obligations of the surrogate mother
A surrogate mother has also five obligations; to agree with treatment modalities after information given by a medical doctor; to carry the pregnancy following the antenatal care guidelines from conception until delivery; and to avoid activities and behaviours that may endanger her life and that of the unborn child.
She is also required to keep constant communication with the intended parent; and to relinquish (hand) the new-born to the intended parent immediately after delivery, unless the intended parent decides otherwise.
