Important Facts about Indian Surrogacy

by Samit Sekhar Co-owner @ Gurgaon Fertility Centre

As surrogacy cost in India is far lesser, it is fast becoming a popular option for the intended couples. So, if you are an intended parent considering the surrogacy option in India, given here is a certain piece of information which you would find helpful.

Here is what you need to know about the surrogacy in India:

Is Surrogacy Legalized in India?

India was no longer a popular option for surrogacy till 2015. This is the time when the Indian Government passed new rules and regulations governing the surrogacy process. Now, according to the Indian surrogacy laws, surrogacy is illegal for the foreign intended parents. The only intended couples that can complete commercial surrogacy in India are the Indian intended parents who are married for at least 5 years.

The ban on the international intended parents in the year 2015 was only the beginning of the process to regulate surrogacy. In 2018, nearly after 2 years of debate, Indian surrogacy law was finalized according to which:

Commercial surrogacy or renting womb for money was made illegal.
Only the altruistic surrogacy for the interfile Indian couples was made permissible.
Intended parents need to be married for at least 5 years and should be certified for infertility.
Women are permitted to be a surrogate only once and only when she is in a close relation of the intended parents and bear a biological child.
Indian laws also ban homosexuals, single parents and live-in couples from surrogacy.

So, it is good to keep in mind if you are looking for surrogacy clinic in Delhi NCR or elsewhere in India. Following India, the other Asian countries have also implemented surrogacy ban of late.

Why is Indian Surrogacy not legalized for foreign couples?

There may be a couple of reasons why Indian surrogacy is banned. Unlike all the other developed countries, the protection available for the intended parents and surrogates is not much which can lead to harmful results. There was a time when Indian surrogacy became a booming business due to lack of rules and regulations, unsafe and unethical practices began to develop.

This was the time when the women who chose to be surrogates were subjected to unethical treatments and exploitation. To keep up with the demand for the foreign intended parents, a lot of surrogacy agencies began to run “baby factories.” In addition to that, surrogate mothers who had to toil hard through the period of nine months were paid only a fraction of the money while the agencies were paid a huge sum.

If you are an Indian couple that has been married for 4-5 years and have issues producing baby, you can go in for surrogacy. You can seek the help of IVF specialist in Gurgaon or other parts of India.