SURROGACY IN INDIA

Legal status of surrogacy in India is expressed by The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016

Highlights of the Bill,

• To allow altruistic ethical surrogacy to intending infertile couple between the age of 23-50 years and 26-55 years for female and male respectively
• Surrogacy is an arrangement whereby an intending couple commissions a surrogate mother to carry their child.
• The intending couple must be Indian citizens and married for at least five years with at least one of them being infertile.  The surrogate mother has to be a close relative who has been married and has had a child of her own.
• No payment other than reasonable medical expenses can be made to the surrogate mother.  The surrogate child will be deemed to be the biological child of the intending couple.
• Central and state governments will appoint appropriate authorities to grant eligibility certificates to the intending couple and the surrogate mother.  These authorities will also regulate surrogacy clinics.

• Undertaking surrogacy for a fee, advertising it or exploiting the surrogate mother will be punishable with imprisonment for 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh.