{"id":39775,"date":"2024-02-23T05:48:52","date_gmt":"2024-02-23T00:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=39775"},"modified":"2025-04-24T19:21:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T13:51:07","slug":"surrogacy-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/surrogacy-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Government Allows Donor Egg &#038; Sperm in Surrogacy"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in Today\u2019s Article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in the News?<\/li>\n<li>About Surrogacy<\/li>\n<li>Surrogacy in India<\/li>\n<li>Key Provisions of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021<\/li>\n<li>News Summary<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why in the News?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>There is new hope for couples dreaming to become parents via surrogacy.<\/li>\n<li>The Central government has amended Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules, 2022 to allow use of a donor gamete \u2013 ova or egg cells and sperm.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>About Surrogacy<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>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).<\/li>\n<li>The surrogate agrees to give the child to that person or couple after the birth.<\/li>\n<li>Types of Surrogacies:\n<ul>\n<li>Commercial Surrogacy:\n<ul>\n<li>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.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Altruistic Surrogacy:\n<ul>\n<li>It involves no monetary compensation to the surrogate mother other than the medical expenses and insurance coverage during the pregnancy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Surrogacy in India<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Since 1978, surrogacy has been practiced in India, which is also known for having a high rate of \u201creproductive tourism\u201d and being a burgeoning hub of the fertility industry.<\/li>\n<li>Although commercial surrogacy was made legal, no bill or explicit rule was created and put into effect.\n<ul>\n<li>This led to a sharp rise in uncontrolled surrogacy in India by low-cost fertility clinics.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Subsequently, in 2021, President of India gave assent to the Surrogacy Regulation Bill, 2021 which was passed by the parliament.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Key Provisions of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Regulation of Surrogacy:\n<ul>\n<li>The Act prohibits commercial surrogacy, and allows altruistic surrogacy.<\/li>\n<li>The Act permits surrogacy when it is:\n<ul>\n<li>(i) for intending couples who suffer from proven infertility;<\/li>\n<li>(ii) altruistic;<\/li>\n<li>(iii) not for commercial purposes;<\/li>\n<li>(iv) not for producing children for sale, prostitution or other forms of exploitation; and<\/li>\n<li>(v) for any other condition or disease specified through regulations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Eligibility Criteria for Surrogate Mother: To obtain a certificate from the appropriate authority, the surrogate mother has to:\n<ul>\n<li>(i) be a close relative of the intending couple;<\/li>\n<li>(ii) be an ever-married woman having a child of her own;<\/li>\n<li>(iii) be 25 to 35 years old;<\/li>\n<li>(iv) not have been a surrogate mother earlier; and<\/li>\n<li>(iv) have a certificate of medical and psychological fitness.<\/li>\n<li>Further, the <u>surrogate mother cannot provide her own gametes for surrogacy<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Registration of Surrogacy Clinics:\n<ul>\n<li>Surrogacy clinics cannot undertake surrogacy or its related procedures unless they are granted registration by the appropriate authority.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>National and State Surrogacy Boards:\n<ul>\n<li>The central and state governments shall constitute the National Surrogacy Board (NSB) and the State Surrogacy Boards (SSBs), respectively.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Offences &amp; Penalties:\n<ul>\n<li>The Act creates certain offences which include:\n<ul>\n<li>(i) undertaking or advertising commercial surrogacy;<\/li>\n<li>(ii) exploiting the surrogate mother;<\/li>\n<li>(iii) selling or importing human embryo or gametes for surrogacy, and<\/li>\n<li>(iv) abandoning, exploiting or disowning a surrogate child\/<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>These offences will attract a penalty of up to 10 years and a fine of up to 10 lakh rupees.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>News Summary<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/media\/editor_images\/2024\/2\/23\/10\/53\/43\/65d82bdf0ae4b20593c66e47_OI.PNG\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Central government has modified the surrogacy rules to permit married couples opting for surrogacy to use donor gametes \u2014 a move that would come as a big relief to those with medical complications.\n<ul>\n<li>The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, restricted married couples from getting donor gametes.<\/li>\n<li>A gamete is a reproductive cell. Female gametes are called ova or egg cells, and male gametes are called sperm.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>A fresh notification issued on 21 February by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said the couple undergoing surrogacy must use their own gametes for having a surrogate child.<\/li>\n<li>However, in case a District Magistrate Board certifies that either husband or wife suffers from a medical condition, then the couple can use a donor gamete.<\/li>\n<li>But the notification allows only one of the two partners \u2013 either wife or husband \u2013 to use a donor gamete.\n<ul>\n<li>A child to be born through surrogacy must have at least one gamete from the intending parents.<\/li>\n<li>This means a married couple where both partners have medical issues or are unable to have their own gametes cannot opt for surrogacy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The modifications in the Surrogacy Rules by the Central government came after the Supreme Court doubted the correctness of the existing rules.\n<ul>\n<li>Applications were filed by married women in the Supreme Court who were unable to conceive due to medical complications.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Q1) What is Medical Tourism?<\/h3>\n<p>Medical tourism refers to people traveling abroad to obtain medical treatment. In the past, this usually referred to those who traveled from less-developed countries to major medical centers in highly developed countries for treatment unavailable at home.<\/p>\n<h3>Q2) What is Assisted Reproductive Technology?<\/h3>\n<p>Assisted reproductive technology includes medical procedures used primarily to address infertility. This subject involves procedures such as in vitro fertilization, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, cryopreservation of gametes or embryos, and\/or the use of fertility medication.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/india\/government-allows-donor-egg-sperm-in-surrogacy\/articleshow\/107923539.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Government allows donor egg &amp; sperm in surrogacy<\/u><\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/prsindia.org\/billtrack\/prs-products\/issues-for-consideration-3864\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>PRS<\/u><\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/theprint.in\/health\/after-scs-nudge-centre-modifies-surrogacy-laws-allows-donor-gamete-in-case-of-medical-conditions\/1975422\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Print<\/u><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A surrogate is a woman who conceives and gives birth to a child for another person or couple.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":39776,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-39775","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}