Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1071310,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1071310/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 254,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba North, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 376,
        "legal_name": "Millie Grace Akoth Odhiambo Mabona",
        "slug": "millie-odhiambo-mabona"
    },
    "content": "biological connection to the child. Again, I will let Members decide whether they want that or they want to expand it. The other issue that it seeks to deal with which we have not included here but after further discussions I will bring via amendments, is the issue of national and international surrogacy. If you look at a country like the United States of America, in which a lot of states allow surrogacy, the price is very prohibitive. On the other hand, a country like Sweden is still grappling with the issue of surrogacy but for very interesting reasons. I was talking to one of the senior officers at their agency and the reason they do not allow surrogacy is because they say people can abuse the practice and force their own relatives to carry a pregnancy for them when they do not want to. They say, for example, I can psychologically force my sister to carry a child for me when she may not want to. Instead of leaving it open, we need to provide it in law. That is why I am talking about fixing it to gestational as opposed to traditional genetic surrogacy. I will expect this House to give me direction as Members contribute, because one of the things is that if we find it acceptable then we can consider what is called medical tourism. The reason India is preferable to many Kenyans is because of the cost of a lot of their processes. When I was doing my research, I discovered that in the USA the process of surrogacy would cost between Ksh7.5 million to Ksh15 million on the prospective parents. In Kenya, the costs may be much but not prohibitive. The Bill seeks not to entrench commercial surrogacy but non-commercial surrogacy. I would love to hear Members’ opinions on that. What that means is that if you use a surrogate parent, you do not commercialise the process; you pay only the costs that are related to their carrying the child. That therefore means, if a woman will be carrying your baby for 12 months, you must make sure that she stays in a residence that you would love your child to stay in. She must have nutrition that is suitable for them. She should be able to access clinics and all the medical facilities. If she was working and stops working, you should be able to compensate her for the period that she is not working because she is carrying your baby. The Bill prohibits setting a price for surrogacy so that people do not commercialise the practice. If you commercialise the practice especially in a country where people are struggling, then it is likely to be abused. On the other hand, if we find a friendly system to Kenyans and even to people from other countries, and with a proper legal framework, then people can come to Kenya on medical tourism that would then boost our economy. I know a lot of people have talked about the issue of child trafficking. Surrogacy will actually stop child trafficking, so that we will no longer have miracle babies. If somebody were to carry your child and there is a legal framework, then we will be seeing and following the development of the child for nine months, not for two months like in the case of miracle babies. We will know which facility you went to because this Bill provides for confidential record keeping. The Bill also has very clear provisions about who the mother of a child is. Part V prohibits access to information except for valid legal reasons. Part VI provides for licensing and the conditions around which licensing can be suspended or stopped. Where the authority has gone beyond its powers, you can appeal first to the authority and then to the High Court. Part VII contains general financial provisions. Part VIII is a miscellaneous section containing offences and general penalties. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}