The new proposed law may come as a threat to Gay Surrogacy in Kenya!

Kenya has always been known to support surrogacy for everyone regardless of their sexual preferences. Still, given to a recent proposal from the Kenyan parliament members, the government may seek for a ban on surrogacy for gay couples in Kenya.

What does the proposal say?

We all know that the core motive of the Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill, 2019, which was approved by the National Assembly, was to help people, such as intersex people or couples who couldn't conceive due to infertility, find surrogate moms.

Still, according to local media in Kenya, anti-LGBTQ lawmakers changed the measure to exclude same-sex couples from this law. If the law gets passed, any homosexual person or lesbian found guilty of pursuing surrogacy for gay couples in Kenya  to conceive a child might face a fine of up to Sh5 million ($50,000), a jail sentence of up to five years, or both.

Moreover, prior to searching for a surrogate mother, the proposed legislation would also need a certified medical professional from surrogacy agency in Kenya to verify that a person is infertile.

This requirement may come as a major setback for thousands of gay and lesbian people in Kenya as well as for hundreds of surrogate mothers who carry pregnancies for heterosexual, gay, lesbian, single women, and single men who want to start families through surrogacy in Kenya.

The New law is in contrary of the Kenya’s family law

The first of its kind in Kenya, the new law would also make it unlawful to use surrogacy for financial gain. At the moment, surrogacy in Kenya is thought to cost around Sh4.5 million ($45,000). Moreover, many experts deem it as a straight violation of the rights offered to form a family by Kenyan family law.

We must mention that surrogacy operations in the nation would be governed by a unique directorate under the Health Ministry. Besides, the proposed law stipulates that a surrogate mother must be older than 21 and have had at least one kid.

The new law would be an addition to Kenya's already restrictive anti-LGBTQ regulations, such as Sections 162 and 165 of the Kenyan Penal Code, which forbid homosexuals and lesbians from adopting children and penalize consensual same-sex relationships as "acts of indecency or unnatural offenses".

The bill was presented to the Kenyan Parliament by Millie Odhiambo, MP for Suba North, who also testified before the parliamentary health committee to support its passage.

How this debate started?

A group of 27 multinational corporations, including Microsoft, Google, Barclays, Standard Chartered, IBM, PricewaterhouseCoopers, American Express, and Burberry, demanded in July 2021 that Kenya accept the rights of gays and lesbians if it wanted the companies to invest billions of shillings in the nation's economy.

The international companies estimated that Kenya loses between $65 million and $143 million yearly as a result of its hostile tourist environment in a paper titled "The Economic Case for LGBT+ Inclusion in Kenya." However, Kenya didn't give in.

Several rights organizations like Kenya’s National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Coalition and UNAIDS have protested the continuous adoption of legislation that discriminate against the LGBTQ population and their rights for surrogacy in Kenya.

The National Assembly’s Health Committee, the sponsor of the surrogacy law, solicited input from various key stakeholders in the health sector such the Intersex Persons Society of Kenya which has a population of 1,524 in Kenya as per the 2019 Census. However, the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya, (GALCK), was noticeably sidelined in the committee’s public hearings.

As of now, it is completely safe to go ahead with your surrogacy aspirations in Kenya. However, you must contact a trusted surrogacy agency in Kenya to make it smooth and easy for your parenthood dreams.

Source: https://www.bloglovin.com/@becomemother/new-proposed-law-may-come-as-a-threat-to