Latest news with #Surrogacy(Regulation)Act2021
Time of India
03-07-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Govt starts biweekly checks to streamline surrogacy and ART centres
New Delhi: Amid rising concerns over illegal and commercial surrogacy, the health department has launched bi-weekly inspections of assisted reproductive technology (ART) and surrogacy clinics. These inspections mark the first implementation of oversight measures following the enforcement of Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021 and Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act 2021 in 2022. Health officials report that unlawful and commercial surrogacy complaints typically accompany in vitro fertilisation (IVF) complaints regarding gamete mixing. The surge in international surrogacy seekers prompted the 2021 ban on commercial surrogacy. Yet, issues like the exploitation of vulnerable women, child trafficking and abandonment through surrogacy persist. Surrogacy clinics are medical establishments offering surrogacy-related services, where a woman gestates a baby for prospective parents. These establishments provide multiple services, including IVF for embryo creation, genetic consultation and continuous assistance for surrogates and intended parents. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like One of the Most Successful Investors of All Time, Warren Buffett, Recommends: 5 Books for Turning... Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Click Here Undo You Can Also Check: Delhi AQI | Weather in Delhi | Bank Holidays in Delhi | Public Holidays in Delhi Since 2022, Delhi registered 50 surrogacy clinics and issued 160 essentiality certificates to couples seeking surrogacy procedures. Neighbouring regions report lower figures, with Haryana having 18 registered surrogacy clinics and Uttar Pradesh reporting no registered facility according to the national ART and surrogacy registry portal. Currently, Delhi houses 113 registered ART clinics. The national portal shows Haryana with 62 registered establishments while Uttar Pradesh has no registered clinic. The portal data indicates 25 registered ART banks in Delhi and 15 in Haryana. Uttar Pradesh again doesn't have any such bank to date. ART clinics provide treatments and procedures while ART banks gather, evaluate and preserve gametes (sperm and eggs) and embryos. The clinics concentrate on medical ART applications while banks supply the necessary biological materials for these procedures. The state programme officer of the ART and surrogacy division, Dr Satyajit Kumar, said an inspection plan was prepared and two teams with five members each were authorised for inspection, starting July. Action will be taken if anybody is found violating the laws. Officials indicated that consistent and thorough inspections were vital for sustaining ethical, legal and transparent operations at these centres. These assessments serve several essential functions, primarily verifying compliance and ensuring centres operate according to the 2021 Acts. This includes checking registration standards, records, staff qualifications and patient rights protection. Unexpected inspections encourage facilities to maintain high standards continuously, rather than solely during planned evaluations, said officials. "These inspections deter unlawful activities, including unregistered ART procedures, unethical surrogacy arrangements, sex selection and commercial surrogacy. Prompt detection prevents such violations from escalating," said Dr Kumar. "The inspection process protects all stakeholders' interests, including intended parents, donors, surrogates and children born through these procedures, by ensuring centres adhere to established medical, ethical and legal protocols," he pointed out. Transparent inspection and reporting systems also strengthen public confidence in ART and surrogacy services, reinforcing institutional credibility and upholding the healthcare system's integrity, he added.
Indian Express
21-04-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
Bombay HC says allowing divorced woman's surrogacy plea may have ‘repercussions' like ‘commercialisation', refuses interim relief
The Bombay High Court on Monday, while hearing a plea by a nearly 38-year-old divorced woman seeking to have a child through surrogacy, said granting relief to her may have wider 'repercussions' and questioned whether a single woman was entitled to have a child through surrogacy. The HC said it had to also consider rights of the child born and not just of the woman and wondered if granting interim relief to the woman, whose plea was rejected by the civil surgeon of a district hospital, would lead to 'commercialisation of surrogacy'. However, after it was pointed out that the larger issue of whether a single woman can avail surrogacy was pending before the Supreme Court, the HC said it was unable to grant interim relief and adjourned the proceedings till sine die and suggested the petitioner approach the SC. A division bench of Justices Girish S Kulkarni and Advait M Sethna was hearing a plea for surrogacy by the woman whose two children are in custody of their father. Advocate Tejesh Dande, representing the woman, submitted that in 2012, she had undergone 'hysterectomy', and her uterus was removed. In 2017, she got divorced by mutual consent, however both children are in the custody of their father and she has not had access to them since 2017 and 'does not have any mother-child relation' with them. Dande said the petitioner is staying alone after divorce and being a working woman, she is capable of maintaining herself. He added that even though her uterus has been removed due to medical complications, she is capable of using her own eggs for surrogacy. Dande further said that as she desired for 'motherhood', she consulted her doctor for having a child through assisted reproductive techniques (ART), however, due to removal of uterus, the doctor suggested her surrogacy. In 2023, after examining her, the director of a private hospital wrote to the civil surgeon of the district hospital with a request to issue a certificate of medical indication to the petitioner to allow her to undergo the consequential procedures required for surrogacy. Earlier this month, as per HC directions, the medical board of the district hospital examined her and the civil surgeon held that the petitioner was 'not ineligible' for surrogacy. The district hospital referred to Section 4(iii)(a) of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021, which stipulated that any intending couple or intending woman is eligible to avail surrogacy only if they have no surviving child — biological, adopted, or born through surrogacy. As per the law, an exception is made in case the existing child is suffering from a life-threatening disease, physically or mentally challenged. The district hospital said in the present case the petitioner had two living and healthy biological children from previous marriage and 'custody status or remarriage does not negate her ineligibility under the Act'. When the matter came up for hearing during the pre-lunch session, the bench questioned what happens if in future an unmarried couple seeks to go for surrogacy but later they separate and if the same was the intention of the legislation. 'Whether such parenting is permissible? Who will be the father of the child?… This may lead to commercialisation of surrogacy. You want surrogacy as you are not capable of bearing a child… There are rights of the child once born too and we cannot just think about the woman's rights… It is a larger issue. The case may be genuine but look at the repercussions. You have to consider all this,' the bench orally remarked. After it was informed that the SC was seized of the 'larger issue', the HC said it was 'unable to grant interim relief'. It suggested the petitioner approach the SC. It granted liberty to the woman to apply to the HC again after the SC decision.
