India surrogacy industry: reforms will ban sex-selection The draft legislation, which was drawn up two years ago but is still to be considered by MPs would for the first time guarantee registration of clinics, mandate regular safety inspections and a system of sanctions against rogue operators, ensure that eggs and sperm are screened for sexually-transmitted diseases and say that there must be compulsory professional counselling for all patients about the risks of fertility treatments and surrogacy. Dr Sharma, who is deputy director-general of the Indian Council of Medical Research, said: "Nobody could have envisaged the sharp increase in Indian surrogacy for foreigners and we accept this will not slow down, but in fact get more popular. The new bill will ensure that clinics are registered and follow firmly the requirements of things like safety standards, documentation, testing for sexually transmitted diseases and the rights of all parties involved. One side effect of the new legislation would be to effectively bar Britons from going to India. It will demand that foreign countries accept that they will give citizenship immediately to babies born in India before surrogate deals are struck, which the Home Office has no plans to do. The standards would in some ways bring Indian into line with Britain - at least as far as safety is concerned. When IVF clinics in the UK create and implant embryos, such procedures are covered by strict protocols, such as screening for medical problems. However, British laws mean surrogates are not allowed to financially profit from their actions and those who donate eggs can only be paid up to £750 to cover expenses. As a result, there is a long wait for egg donors, and just 100 births a year in the UK are estimated to result from surrogacy.