New law seeks to limit surrogacy in Uganda
Ugandan parliamentarians are currently deliberating on a bill tabled before the House to limit surrogacy to individuals or couples who have proof of health limitations or complications that make it impossible or challenging to produce children of their own.
The bill was proposed and is sponsored by Sarah Opendi who says it will help curb the illegal operation of various fertility clinics in the country.
The Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill proposes stringent regulations for health facilities offering Assisted Reproductive Treatment (ART) services, The Monitor reports.
ART services are medical procedures that assist couples or individuals with alternative conception options where natural means are challenging or unlikely.
Per the bill, health facilities will be licensed annually by the Health Minister on recommendation by the Medical and Dental Practitioners Council to practice these ART services in line with the law, whereas already existing facilities will be given two years to comply.
These facilities will, according to the bill, only offer such surrogacy arrangements after medical examinations are conducted to confirm the inability of the individual or couple to naturally produce.
Clause 21 of the bill states, “An intending parent may opt for surrogacy where a registered medical practitioner has, upon examination of the intending parent, established that the intending parent suffers primary or secondary infertility or the intending parent suffers health challenges which affect the intending parent’s ability to reproduce,” The Monitor quoted.
The bill also restricts persons under the age of 18 from being surrogates and indicates that the surrogate mother, having signed a written surrogacy agreement will have no rights to parenting of the child.
Medical practitioners who breach the components of the bill if passed into law are liable to a fine of Shs10m (US$ 69,930) or imprisonment not exceeding five years or both.
