Surrogacy assumed status of racketeering: Tripurana

Warangal: As fears were being expressed over commercialisation of surrogacy motherhood, Telangana State Commission for Women Chairperson Tripurana Venkataratnam felt that it has now assumed the status of ‘racketeering’. “Sadly, medical professionals were becoming part of such rackets.

In addition to that a ‘medical mafia’ took shape conducting hysterectomy operations to remove the womb (uterus) even for a simple reason,” she lamented. Speaking to the media in Hanamkonda on Thursday, Tripurana said that in the name of surrogacy the middlemen have been playing with the health and lives of the poor, dalit and tribal women.

Surrogacy has become a business leaving behind traditional values and ethics. She further said that if any medical complications arise due to surrogacy, none would come to the rescue of the woman involved. Every woman intending to act as surrogate mother has to keep this in mind, she warned. In turn it would have a bad impact on the family, she said.

She also asked the women who were going to gulf countries seeking employment to be cautious as many women who were working there were facing lot of difficulties. In view of the growing trafficking of women and surrogacy rackets, Venkataratnam stressed on the urgent need to curb them.

Speaking about the sexual abuse incident that happened in Veenavanka recently, she advised the women not to fear blackmailing by the accused and urged them to lodge a police complaint so that the culprits could be punished. Further, Tripurana suggested the women to approach SHE Teams for protection on facing any difficulty.

Referring to marital disputes involving the non-resident Indians (NRIs), Venkataratnam said the parents of the girls should register their daughters’ marriage. It helps to address the problems. “Divorce cannot be granted in foreign countries for the marriages that happened in India,” she explained.

Later, addressing the gathering at valedictory of the two-day workshop on women laws, she said, “Though several laws for women’s protection exist, it is legal awareness they have that matters the most in protecting their rights.” She released a book on women laws and distributed the same to the participants of the workshop.