Surrogacy india bill seeks to regulate wombs-for-rent

Bharat or India has become a popular medical tourism destination and experts say hundreds of surrogate births took place there last year.India is the only country in the Asia region where commercial surrogacy is allowed.

India hopes a new law will help regulate the country's surrogacy services and stop people being exploited by 'rent-a-womb' medical tourism.

Over the past decade, India has become a popular medical tourism destination and experts say hundreds of surrogate births took place there last year.

A woman acting as surrogate mother in India cannot be less than 21 or over 35 years. Also, she cannot give more than five live births, including her own children.

With India fast emerging as a hotspot for rent-a-womb phenomenon, the Union health ministry has now finalised the Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) Regulation Bill 2010, which has been sent to the law ministry for its approval.

The Bill has incorporated several landmark stipulations. For instance, no surrogate mother shall undergo embryo transfer more than three times for the same couple. If a surrogate mother is married, the consent of her spouse is mandatory. Only Indian citizens can be considered for surrogacy. No ART bank or clinic can send an Indian citizen for surrogacy abroad. Strict confidentiality has to be maintained about the donor's identity.

Dr Gautam Allahbadia, medical director, The Rotunda Centre for Human Reproduction in Mumbai, has told the bill regulates the industry, but also makes it easier for legitimate surrogacy arrangments.

"Surrogacy will be easiest to do in India," he said.

"Once it becomes law, there will be absolutely no legal tangles. A couple can take their baby away with a birth certificate that will carry the genetic parents' names, so all these rules, guidelines once they become a law, means that everything will become very easy."

The new Assisted Reproductive Technologies Regulation Bill 2010 covers India's fertility services as a whole, including IVF, pre-natal determination and surrogacy, which will see the most significant changes.

If approved, it will mean both parties will have to sign legally-binding surrogacy agreements. And women who want to act as a surrogate will also have to be Indian citizens, and between the ages of 21 and 35.

The regulations will also mean no surrogate will be able to undergo an embryo transfer for the same couple more than three times, married surrogates will need the consent of their husbands, and none will be able to give birth more than five times - whether it's their own children or as a surrogate.

The new law in India makes it illegal for women to travel out of the country to act as surrogates.

It also permits surrogacy only for an individual or a couple - defined under Indian law as two people living together and having a sexual relationship that is legal in the country.

Once the Bill gets the assent, it will become binding on a surrogate mother to relinquish all her filial rights over the baby. And, the birth certificate of the baby born through surrogacy will bear the name of the individual or individuals, who had commissioned the surrogacy, as parents. The commissioning parents could be a single man or woman, a married couple or an unmarried couple, who are in a live-in relationship.

According to the Union health ministry note,it is estimated that 15% of couples around the world are infertile. This implies that infertility is one of the most highly prevalent medical problems that have enormous social implications. Usually, infertility carries a social stigma in India.

"Today 85% of the cases of infertility can be taken care of through medicines, surgery or the new medical technologies such IVF or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The last 20 years have seen an exponential growth of infertility clinics that use techniques requiring handling of spermatozoa or the oocyte outside the body, or the use of a surrogate mother.

In the U.S., "you can buy sperm, you can buy eggs -- that's really the market that has exploded -- you can rent wombs and you can increasingly put together these complicated package deals, where you buy the sperm from one source, the egg from another and the surrogate mother."

Many US states have their own state laws written regarding the legality of surrogate parenting. It is most common for surrogates to reside in Florida and California due to the surrogacy-accommodating laws in these states.Surrogate mothers in India cost considerably lower (about fourth of what it would cost in the United States). The cost of surrogacy in the United States is anywhere within $50,000 to $100,000.

In Canada,Commercial surrogacy arrangements were prohibited in 2004 by the Assisted Human Reproduction Act.

In all states in Australia and the Australian Capital Territory arranging commercial surrogacy is a criminal offence.

Surrogate Mothers in India - Costs, Laws, Medical Facilities & Culture:

Surrogate pregnancy, an assisted reproductive technique (ART) in which a woman carries in her womb the baby of another woman, has seen a spurt in India. Due to the healthier lifestyles of to-be mothers and lower costs compared to the West, the country could become a global hub in the field.

"Women here are less exposed to a lifestyle with drugs, alcohol and smoking, which has a positive impact on the health of the baby as well as the mother. Also surrogacy laws in India are much lenient as compared to other countries,"

As a result , the success rate of surrogate pregnancy at centres in India is higher than in other countries.

Surrogacy clinics in India & surrogate programs in India are becoming popular.The reason is the low cost surrogate mothers in India, trained medical professionals who manage the surrogacy programs and ready availability of surrogate mothers.

"Surrogacy will be easiest to do in India," he said.

"Once it becomes law, there will be absolutely no legal tangles. A couple can take their baby away with a birth certificate that will carry the genetic parents' names, so all these rules, guidelines once they become a law, means that everything will become very easy."