The world today recognises, even if it doesn’t unanimously accept, that families have moved beyond the heteronormative. Moreso, even the process of procreation has delved deeper into understanding of one’s own struggles of physically supporting the creation of a life, and whether it is something that may require external measures such as IVFs, surrogacy and the like.
The point is that technology of the contemporary world has allowed us to utilise more ways than one when creating our own families - and this in turn has provided hope to individuals to build the family of their dreams, which otherwise couldn’t have been achieved through traditional means of birth and/or procreation.
In India, surrogacy became a sought after method since the early 2000s. However, the system was left unregulated for almost two decades, raising a significant cause for concern over the exploitation of unprivileged women as well as children that would be left abandoned post-birth. It was only recently, in the consecutive years of 2019 and 2020, that we were brought face to face with a new bill and a supposed strengthened foundation for where the system was to be put in place.
It was in the middle of one of the world’s biggest pandemics, that the Indian government passed the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2020.
The bill seeks to restrict all manners of exploitation concerning women and children that may have been carried out in the past due to the discrepancies in the system. Only, it does so by crudely sticking to the heteronorm - i.e. only recognises cis-hetero couples at the basis of the bill. This comes in addition to the fact, that same-sex couples aren’t even allowed to adopt in India.
This sheds an important light on how couples within the LGBTQI community are, in all actuality, viewed by the government.
We often look back at the 2018 verdict by Supreme Court in the Navtej Johar vs Union of India case as one of the markers in queer history that legally acknowledged the presence of same-sex couples. While this acknowledgement stands as a step forward for the overall struggle, the inability to incorporate such couples into programme frameworks or initiatives for sexual health and/or reproductive health is an echo of how the community continues to be overlooked at the ground level.
This isn’t to say that there is no inclusion of LGBTQI related knowledge in the programmes that have followed thus far. Yet, these are only reflections of the efforts put forth by existing non-governmental organisations such as Humsafar Trust, Sweekar and the like. These efforts, without the full support of the government can only do so much and thus, require further strength to address stigmatisation for LGBTQI experiences in the society.
The message that the new bill intermittently carries is that while LGBTQI couples may persist in all legality, but hold no rights to build their own families.
How is it that we continue to take a step forward — only to take two steps back, again?
We, @Amirrah, recognise that it's high time for us as a community to bring these issues into the mainstream. We aim to fill in the gaps that have held back countless efforts and to help bring effective ground-level changes vis-à-vis the above mentioned.
Being a parent can be the most beautiful feeling, and neither science nor philosophy explain that only blood relations could be considered the purest form of relation. There is no single determinant or factor of being a good parent. Parenting remains rooted in the love that parents give to their children, the kind of bond they share with their children, the direction, & support they give to their children.
We are striving to create an all-inclusive society, where everyone could have the right and access to build their own family.
About the Author(s):
Twinkle Jaspal is a working professional in the charity sector and supports Amirrah by overseeing its operational functioning. She holds a master's degree in Development Studies from the London School of Economics (LSE) and Political Science.
Other contributors:
We would like to give a special thanks to Shivangi Rathore for supporting the research effort behind this article.
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