Just days after the Surrogacy Bill was cleared and it was announced that married couples with kids, gay couples and NRI couples were no longer eligible to opt for surrogacy, director Farah Khan has spoken out against it.
The filmmaker who is a mother to eight-year-old triplets Czar, Diva and Anya, has lashed out against the bill that basically proposes a ban on commercial form of surrogacy.
"Now you are telling us when to have children too"
She even went on to the extent of categorically stating that the government is trying to control everything in people's lives. "So now you are telling us what to eat, you are telling us what to wear and now you are telling us when to have children too," she told India Today television channel.
The 51-year-old, who had her kids via IVF at the age of 43 was upset with the new proposals. She even mentioned that there were many loopholes in the proposed bill and that it should have been aimed at protecting the rights of women who opt for surrogacy.
She added that this bill also does nothing to safeguard the interest of the surrogates, who can easily be exploited.
Khan was also opposed to the idea that the bill allowed married childless couples to be married for five years before opting for surrogacy. "You can't say only married couples can have children that too only after five years of marriage," she told the daily.
Bollywood mums join forces against the bill
Khan is one of the many Bollywood stars who have lashed out at this new proposed bill. Mum-to-be Kareena Kapoor Khan, who has broken many stereotypes with her recent stint on the ramp also reportedly spoke against it.
Speaking to NDTV after her show she said that everybody should have a right to kids, especially if they are the unfortunate one's who cannot have it (naturally).
"Every person has the privilege (right) of having a family and if there are some unfortunate people who can’t or some people who still choose to, I think they have a right to that," she said.
Continue reading to see which famous Bollywood fathers are speaking against the bill! You'll be surprised.
Even Bollywood dads are speaking against the bill
Apart from these two ladies, another strong opposer of the bill within the film industry was actor Manoj Bajpayee.
The 47-year-old actor told Mid-Day, "I take so much pride in saying I come from a democracy. That is why when things like this Surrogacy Bill is brought in, I feel sad and angry. The sadness and anger is not just because one part of the population is once again being pushed out of the mainstream, so to speak. It is because such a Bill chips away at my pride of belonging to a democracy."
"I retorted that population should have been controlled years ago. My dad had six children. Six! I often ask my dad, ‘Why?’ He was a lower middle class farmer. How could you afford to educate all of them?” Having said that, he added, “Why deprive people of the right and opportunity to feel great as human beings by bringing a new life into this world? I protest. I stand with all the people who are marginalised by the new Surrogacy Bill," added Bajpayee who has a daughter with wife Neha Bajpayee.
He is not the only father who has spoke out.
It seems that the many vocal and influential voices are already against the bill, which before being passed did not hinder in stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan fulfilling their dreams of becoming third time parents again.
In fact, Aamir Khan in a recent event had even admitted that he was happy to have son Azad via surrogacy.
“It is such a joy to have a child in your life. It is something that really changes your life,” he said. “When I had Junaid, my first child, it changed me and my life. But there are so many parents who are unable to have child,” added the actor.
Speaking along with husband Aamir was wife Kiran Rao, who also shared her experience with this chosen method. She revealed that the couple struggled to conceive before having a baby via surrogacy.
“We had a lot of trouble while trying to have a child. And I really didn’t think it would be possible to have a baby. Angelically, Dr. Firuza appeared and found this way for us. We have no words to thank her and we wake up every morning blessing her and thanking her,” she said.
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