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{
    "id": 543131,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/543131/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 190,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Ombaka",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1007,
        "legal_name": "Christine Oduor Ombaka",
        "slug": "christine-oduor-ombaka"
    },
    "content": "hon. Millie Odhiambo has brought to this House. As we wait for their Bill, let us move on with what we have – hon. Millie Odhiambo’s Bill. I support this Bill vehemently because I have seen experiences of many women who require this kind of technology. I am also glad that men are supporting it. Many people think that when there is no child in the family, or when there is a problem such as this one in a family, then the men are divorced from the problem. I am glad that the Members in this House are supporting the Bill, showing that we are moving towards the right direction. A problem like this one requires collaboration between the female and the male Members of this House. There is something about this Bill that needs to be thought about a little; the authority. It may be said that it is going to stand alone. Some people think that it does not need to stand alone. Does it matter? Stand alone or not stand alone, the fact is that there will be a law. Whether it is a stand alone or not, to me that is not a problem. What should be the problem is a lack of law on assisted reproduction. If there is no law, then that should be a problem. When there is a law made out of this Bill, then we are going to solve the biggest problem that we have ever had in some families. I would like us to borrow more from other countries that have succeeded in enacting and operationalising this kind of law. Is the service the problem of the surrogate mother? Where somebody agrees to donate a womb and somebody else agrees to donate a sperm, but along the way somebody changes his or her mind and declines to own up to his or her promise; a conflict arises and one party takes the matter to court. Such cases are in plenty. Those are the areas we need to deal with and see how best we can handle such issues. The fact that we are introducing a new way of helping families with children should earn an automatic acceptance by the House. We all need this help because even those who are religious, say the church, have many issues to raise about reproduction. They do not approve of them. For example, they do not approve use of contraceptives, abortion and many other things. So, the church will have its own side of the story. However, when it comes to, “Go ye and multiply’’ the way the Bible says, I expect the church to support this. “Go ye and multiply” may not necessarily mean that you must be natural in reproducing children. People have challenges just like we have people living with disability. They too need assistance. We have people living with HIV/AIDS. They are advised on what to do in order to have children without necessarily infecting them with the virus. There is always some kind of assistance that we all need and that is why I support this Bill vehemently. Let us introduce this Bill in Kenya, but let us also regulate so that it is not abused. We have agreed that we have this Bill, but there should be no abuse of it. The children born out of this assistance may not be pronounced in the society. We do not need to go out there saying, “This child of mine was born like this and that.” If that was to happen, it would be most unfortunate. It is not that we want to isolate them or discriminate against them. They should be accepted like any other children that we bear in a natural way. The Children Act will take care of that. I believe this Bill is going to save the family in this country. We must move very fast with this Bill because, in my view, it is coming too late when other countries have gone so far. Those countries have achieved so much. 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."
}