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A 34-year-old Chennai man discovered his wife had uterine cancer during a routine doctor's visit eight years ago. The couple then decided to freeze two of her embryos before her surgery in 2021.
Since the couple knew their chances of conception were slim, they chose surrogacy instead.
That is until the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act of 2021 dashed their hopes. His wife was unable to provide the necessary gametes or egg cells, for conception.
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Hence, the couple required donor embryos, but the law forbade them. The couple went to court seeking changes in Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021. However, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare rejected several suggestions made in the plea.
But what exactly is this law?
Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021
The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021 and the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act 2021 (ART Act) came into effect in 2022.
The Acts aim to regulate the multimilion-dollar reproductive medicine industry, specify who can access assisted reproductive technologies and procedures such as in-vitro fertilisation and surrogacy, the conditions for gamete donation and surrogacy, and the requirements for clinics to operate.
The Acts also restrict access to Assisted Reproductive Technology (ARTs) and surrogacy to married infertile couples and certain categories of women.
The sale of gametes, as well as any payment to the surrogate mother other than insurance and medical expenses, has also been prohibited. Clinics and banks that perform ART procedures have to be registered.
Stance of surrogacy board
The law, in its current form, bans commercial surrogacy. Furthermore, it hopes to regulate the surrogacy industry.
The petition sought several changes, such as permitting unmarried women to opt for surrogacy, bringing down the age of a couple seeking a surrogate woman, and giving a go-ahead to commercial surrogacy.
Also, the petition hoped to make surrogacy available for couples who do not fall in the age bracket of 23-50 and for infertile married couples as well. Adding on, the petition proposed to allow all single women to opt for surrogacy, and not just divorced, separated, or widows.
However, the surrogacy board quashed all these suggestions, saying that existing provisions didn’t require any alterations.
What is surrogacy?
Surrogacy is an arrangement in which a woman (the surrogate) agrees to carry and give birth to a child on behalf of another person or couple (the intended parent/s).
A surrogate, sometimes also called a gestational carrier, is a woman who conceives, carries, and gives birth to a child for another person or couple (intended parent/s).
Types of surrogacy
1) Altruistic surrogacy:
It involves no monetary compensation for the surrogate mother other than the medical expenses and insurance coverage during the pregnancy.
2) Commercial surrogacy:
It includes surrogacy or its related procedures undertaken for a monetary benefit or reward (in cash or kind) exceeding the basic medical expenses and insurance coverage.
(With agency input)
