VietNamNet Bridge – The National Assembly on Thursday ratified the amended Marriage & Family Law, which allows surrogacy in the country. However, the issue of same-sex marriage is still out of the scope of this law.

Previously, at the request of the National Assembly Standing Committee, National Assembly deputies voted on the specific contents on surrogacy. It was approved with 59.1 percent of the vote. The ballot was held because the surrogacy content had been protested by many deputies.

The chair of the National Assembly’s Committee for Social Issues, Ms. Truong Thi Mai,  said that surrogacy is a humanitarian measure to help infertile couples have a chance to become parents. The regulations to ensure the humanitarian purposes of surrogacy and to handle disputes are assigned to the Government.

Another controversial issue - same-sex marriage – was rejected from the amended Marriage and Family Law because. according to the National Assembly Standing Committee, cohabitation between two people of the same sex is not considered marriage so this issue is not under the scope of the bill.

The full text of the bill consists of 10 chapters. At least 133 articles were voted on,, with 396 of 437 participants voting yes, or 79.52% of the NA.

Tran Cham