While surrogacy is a boon for childless couples, there are many legal factors around it that must be kept in mind. We shed some light on what the laws around surrogacy in India are:
Yes, commercial surrogacy is legal in India. But it’s still unregulated in our country as we don’t have legislation controlling surrogacy. And although the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has set ‘national guidelines’ to regulate surrogacy, these are still simply guidelines. All that this means is that surrogate mothers need to sign a “contract” with the childless couple. There are no stipulations as to what will happen if this “contract’ is violated.
It was in Manji’s case in 2002 that Supreme Court of India held that commercial surrogacy was legal in India.
In Jan Balaz v Union of India, the Gujarat High Court conferred Indian citizenship on two twin babies fathered through compensated surrogacy by a German national in Anand district in Gujarat.
In 2005, The Indian Council for Medical Research gave guidelines to help regulate Assisted Reproductive Technology procedures. The Law Commission of India submitted the 228th report on Assisted Reproductive Technology procedures discussing the importance and need for surrogacy and also the steps taken to control surrogacy arrangements. The following observations had been made by the Law Commission:
Prevalence in India is hard to predict as there are no exact figures available and prevalence is also dependent on specialised centres that cater to surrogacy as an option to couples that have no other way of getting a baby of their own.
However, the success rate of surrogacy is almost 45% with fresh embryos and 25% with frozen embryos.
The package for surrogacy in India almost costs 50% less as compared to other countries and can vary between Rs 8, 00,000 to 15, 00,000 approximately.
The surrogacy package price estimate above covers doctor fees, legal fees, surrogate work up, antenatal care, delivery charges, surrogate compensation, egg donor, drugs and consumables, & IVF costs.
We are not just another law firm. We are India’s Premium Legal Consultants on Assisted Reproductive Technology.