India's new surrogacy laws are only part of the equation

There are many flaws with the Indian system of not regulating commercial surrogacy.  Whilst some may consider the possibility fanciful, it is considered by many experts to result in trafficking of children. 

The nature of any regulation also needs to be considered. There have been years of discourse on adoption, the human rights involved and an acceptance of what is and is not appropriate and reasonable.  The considerable requirements for foreign prospective adoption focus on the best interests of the child, not on the child as the outcome of a contract. Perhaps this would provide a better model than contract law, with its focus on the bottom line at the expense of ethical outcomes.

What should our responses in Australia be to this recent change to Visa requirements? Should we focus less on outcomes rendered discriminatory by our own laws and more on our responsibility to any child born of a commercial surrogacy arrangement in India intended to be a citizen of Australia? 

No state in Australia allows commercial surrogacy, and not all permit altruistic surrogacy arrangements. Presumably this is because of concerns around vulnerability and exploitation of the women who act as surrogates and concerns about the rights of those born through these arrangements.

Perhaps rather than focussing debate on seeming inconsistencies in Indian visa regulations, we should be questioning our indifference to the rights of all children born overseas through commercial surrogacy arrangements and our responsibilities to them as future Australian citizens.