NEW DELHI: A 42-year-old woman who worked as a surrogate died at AIIMS recently following serious pregnancy-related complications.An investigation revealed that the woman had a history of illnesses, including tuberculosis, hydrocephalus (build-up of fluid in the brain) and depression — the information she withheld from the agency that hired her. She was 17-week pregnant with twins weighing 225gm (boy) and 204gm (girl) each.Dr Abhishek Yadav, assistant professor, forensics department, AIIMS, said the deceased was admitted to a private hospital during the second trimester for continuous vomiting. On finding that she had been taking anti-depressants, the hospital referred her to AIIMS , he added.The 42-year-old was initially treated at AIIMS’s out-patient department where the doctors advised her to undergo medical termination of pregnancy (MTP). But, before MTP could be carried out, her condition worsened and she had to be shifted to the Emergency ward, where she later died, Yadav said.The doctor explained that as per the guidelines of ICMR, which were followed before the approval of Surrogacy Regulation Bill, the woman, given her medical history, was not suitable to carry foetus.“This case is reflective of the lack of regulation of commercial surrogacy in the country and its impact on the lives of poor women staking their lives for money,” Dr Sudhir Gupta, professor and head, forensic sciences, AIIMS, said.In August, Lok Sabha had passed the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019, that aims to ban commercial surrogacy to protect women from exploitation. It also seeks to allow only altruistic surrogacy by infertile Indian couples from a ‘close relative’, while prohibiting foreigners, NRIs and PIOs from commissioning surrogacy in the country.“The Bill has to be passed by Rajya Sabha before it becomes a law,” said Dr Abha Mazumdar, director and head, Centre of IVF and Human Reproduction, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, adding that it needed to be done urgently to stop malpractices.Dr Anita Kant, chairman, obstetrics and gynaecology, Asian Institute of Medical Sciences, said the screening of the surrogate for illnesses was must before a clinic hires any woman for the job. In the case of the 42-year-old woman, investigation by forensics department revealed that due process wasn’t followed, she added.In 2014, another such case of malpractice had emerged where the family of a woman filed a police complaint alleging that she died during the retrieval of eggs at a south Delhi fertility clinic. The eggs were supposed to be used for in-vitro fertilisation. The deceased’s husband alleged that the woman was persuaded by agents of the clinic to become a donor. An initial postmortem conducted at AIIMS showed her ovaries were enlarged possibly due to hormone injections.While moving the Bill in Lok Sabha, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan had said that it was “the need of the hour”. “A rough estimate shows that there are 2,000-3,000 surrogacy clinics running illegally in the country, and a few thousand foreigner couples resort to surrogacy in India. The whole issue is thoroughly unregulated,” Vardhan had said.