Sama was invited to Hyderabad by the Anveshi Research Centre for Women’s Studies and the Department of Sociology, University of Hyderabad for discussions on commercial Surrogacy in India. Sama organised screening of its film “Can we see the baby bump please?” at Anveshi on 26 October and at the University of Hyderabad on 27 October, and made it a starting point for further discussions with students, researchers, activists, academics and members of civil society organisations from Hyderabad. These discussions were held against the backdrop of the recent government announcement of Cabinet approval of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2016. The debate on surrogacy has been rekindled, albeit in polarized terms as pro- or anti-ban on commercial surrogacy. Sama through the discussions at both the fora, highlighted the need to contextualize surrogacy as a part of the larger Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) industry and the nuances around the phenomenon of commercial surrogacy as it emerged in India since 2000. Sama also shared its research over the last decade around the issues of women’s health, their right to make informed decisions for medically intrusive techniques such as ARTs and IVF as well as effective regulation of the ARTs industry.
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