Recently the central government amended the surrogacy rules to allow couples to use donor eggs (or) donor sperms for surrogacy .Supreme court nudged government to reconsider its 2023 notification .
What this Surrogacy Regulation Amendment rules 2024 is ?
According to new notification if either of the couple suffers from medical condition necessitating use of donor gamete then the District medical board will certify them to opt for surrogacy .They will be allowed to have surrogacy using donor gamete in such circumstances.
The Union Health Ministry amended the earlier rules “Surrogacy Regulation Rules 2022” which states that couple undergoing surrogacy must have both the gametes from the intended couple .The new rule notified that both gametes need not come from a married couple in case they are certified as suffering from medical condition .In latest amendment the intending couple must have atleast one gamete from themselves if they want to have child through surrogacy .
Prior to March 2023 notification which insisted on the use of both eggs and sperm from the intending couple ,2023 notification rules for surrogacy allowed the use of donor eggs but nor sperm.
The March 2023 notification was challenged in the supreme court by a women who had rare congenital disorder that affects the reproductive system and can cause infertility .
Implications of this amendment -Surrogacy Regulation Amendment rules 2024
New amendment will keep surrogacy accessible to aged women and to those who have certain medical conditions and are unable to produce eggs , also those old age women might have undergone several other methods of getting pregnant that failed would go for surrogacy.
Women who donot have a uterus or have conditions that affect their ability to produce eggs can opt for surrogacy.
Women living with conditions that make it impossible for them to carry the pregnancy to term .
These intended categories of women will surely opt for surrogacy to have child.
While the relaxation is for “intended couple “the notification said that if a divorced or widowed woman opts for surrogacy the egg has to come from the mother .Single woman (widow or divorce ) undergoing surrogacy must use self eggs and donor sperms to avail surrogacy procedures.
Way forward
By Regulating Surrogacy Rules and making it more accessible to those who cannot have child due to multiple abnormalities will help in stopping unethical practices ,exploitation of surrogate mothers ,abandonment of children born out of surrogacy ,import of human gametes and embryos .The need of the hour is to execute these new rules with utmost care and precautions . Sensitize intending couples to have child through surrogacy by following proper procedures of ethical medical practices .