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{
    "id": 1337482,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1337482/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 409,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba North",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Some of the issues that are of concern in relation to this Bill include the fact that there are many people who try to get assisted reproduction, but the costs are prohibitive. I was giving you an example of a Member of Parliament in the last Parliament who told me the first time she tried to get a child through assisted reproduction, many years ago, she spent Ksh300,000. It did not succeed, and she spent another Ksh300,000. It did not succeed again, and she went to South Africa, where it did not also succeed. I thank God she now has a child through assisted reproduction. What about the ordinary person in Homa Bay County, who would like to have a child and cannot afford Ksh300,000; cannot even afford to open a WhatsApp group because of the stigma to raise money for that? You heard Hon. Catherine talking earlier and saying that even her insurance does not cover that. We are even discriminating people, even in insurance coverage, which cannot cover that. At least, for maternity they can cover a little bit. For assisted reproduction, they cover nothing. Those are the things that we need to look at here. One of the issues that has been a challenge is that of parentage of a child born of assisted reproduction. Sometimes, you have a surrogate mother, who is willing to carry a child for you, and upon the birth of a child, she decides that they love the child and they will not let the child off to you. The Bill seeks to provide a legal framework for the parentage of a child born of assisted reproduction. It seeks to provide for registration of a child born of assisted reproduction. We had varied views. There were people who felt that the process must go to court. Some of us felt that we should not go to court. It should go directly to the registry; when a woman goes to the hospital, she declares that this child is born of assisted reproduction. It should be from the beginning. That can be done through a lawyer from the beginning. We should shorten the process so that parents do not have to struggle to go to court. Again, we are talking about stigma. Why do you want to expose people who are not as brave as me? Who wants to go and say that they do not have a child and are struggling to get one? I have seen people who are abused and told that you have bought a child. Why would you want to expose people like that again? There are also ethical issues. I want to reiterate that this Bill, because of the Standing Orders, has come in the form that was amended. The voice of the church was heard through this amendment, especially the Catholic Church, through Jennifer Shamalla, Chris Wamalwa, the Speaker and many others who brought amendments so that issues that may be of concern to the church and religious leaders were captured here. The Committee will bring further amendments. As I have said, there are ethical issues that need to be looked into. Some of the issues that the Bill looks at is the age that a person can undertake assisted reproduction and those allowed to undertake it. We are very careful to adhere to the Constitution. We are not introducing any new constitutional standards. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I know your pet subject is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, or another diverse gender identity (LGBTQ+). This Bill only deals with the I of the LGBTQ+. We know that a lot of persons who are intersex have challenges. For people who do not understand, intersex has nothing to do with lesbianism, gay or transgender. Intersex are just people who are born with two organs; male and female. We met some of them in Mombasa. 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."
}