The term Surrogacy means when a woman carries and gives birth to a child for someone else or a couple and the Indian law for the Surrogacy have changed a lot. Depending on the situation the law allows it but it has some limitations. To figure-out what is allowed by law, you need to look at the rules that are in place right now.
What Our Indian Law Says:
The SRA 2021Act is the main law that regulates surrogacy.
What this Law Says:
- Only charitable surrogacy is allowed but commercial surrogacy is not allowed.
- Surrogacy is only allowed if the surrogate mother is a close relative of the couple who wants to have a baby, should be married, has at least one child of her own & is between a certain age.
- The couple who wants to have a baby must be a heterosexual & Indian married couple, proven infertile and meet other eligibility requirements.
- The Law doesn’t allow any Foreign Nationals, foreign couples, live-in partners, same-sex couples and single people can’t legally hire a surrogate in India right now.
- The law also requires that surrogacy clinics should be registered & authorized at the national and state levels to keep an eye on the practice.
Why the rules?
There were moral and practical causes for stronger rules & regulation. India became the most favourite location for commercial surrogacy in all over the world because it was cheaper & affordable also in India it had less rules. Reports of surrogate mothers being taken advantage of, disputed parental rights, legal issues across the border and parents abandoning their kids behind made politicians take action. The SRA 2021 wants to better protection rights of the surrogate mother the child born through surrogacy & the process of reproductive technology.
Effect on Different Groups:
- For surrogate mothers: Due to the change from commercial to altruistic it doesn’t mean that surrogates can’t be paid a fee except the medical and related expenses. This reduced the risk of exploitation but critics say it could also decrease the incentives and force the industry to underground.
- For those people who want to be parents, the pool of people who qualify has become smaller than it used to be. Many global or single prospective parents now have to explore for choices outside of India or think about adoption.
- Babies born through surrogacy: The SRA 2021 Act states that a child born through a legal surrogacy agreement is to be treated as the biological child of the couple who wanted to have the child from birth. So that they don’t need to adopt.
Real-life problems and The Challenges:
The law is very clear but getting it into operation is still very difficult. Clinics and interested parents must ensure 100% compliance to registration guidelines, documentation requirements and eligibility inspections. Critics also say that just allowing beneficial models and some kind of relationships for surrogacy could lead to black-market activity or make surrogates gets into the informal agreements.
Some people also say that restricting eligibility is completely unfair and violates their constitutional rights. Enforcement and oversight still continue to pose real challenges.
Conclusion:
Thought the Surrogacy is allowed in India but only as a form of charity. Surrogacy under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021 & only for a limited group of people who meet severe requirements. Such model of surrogacy that makes money has been made illegal. If you are thinking about surrogacy in India it is essential to make sure that you follow all the rules & regulations by the govt. This means ensuring that the clinic is authorized that the surrogate and the prospective parents fit the requirements and that all the documents and paper works is in proper order.
The law finds a compromise by acknowledging that many couples want to have children by surrogacy while also trying to avoid surrogate women and children from being taken advantage of and legal confusion. If you are considering about surrogacy, it is important to have a good legal advice and follow all the rules & regulations.