Surrogacy rules changed, couples with medical condition can use donor gametes

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Biotechnology

Context:

The Centre has amended the surrogacy rules 2022 to allow married couples with a medical condition to use a donor’s egg or sperm.

More on news:

The District Medical Board certifies the need for a donor gamete. Single women (widow or divorcee) must use self-eggs and donor sperm.
The amendment came after the Supreme Court last year received petitions from women across the country after it allowed a woman with a rare congenital disorder to avail surrogacy with a donor egg.
The Centre had in March 2023 issued a notification banning donor gametes for couples intending to undergo surrogacy.
Form 2 (Consent of the Surrogate Mother and Agreement for Surrogacy) of the Surrogacy Rules read with Rule 7 was amended on March 14, 2023 to stipulate that donor eggs could not be used for gestational surrogacy of an intending couple.

About Surrogacy:

Surrogacy is an arrangement in which a woman (the surrogate) agrees to carry and give birth to a child on behalf of another person or couple (the intended parent/s).
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).

Various Conditions in Surrogacy:

In case when the District Medical Board certifies that either husband or wife constituting the intending couple suffers from a medical condition necessitating use of donor gamete, then surrogacy using donor gamete is allowed.
The surrogacy using donor gamete is allowed subject to the condition that the child to be born through surrogacy must have at least one gamete from the intending couple.
This means if both the partners have medical problems or are unable to have their own gametes they cannot opt for surrogacy.
Single women (widow or divorcee) undergoing surrogacy must use self-eggs and donor sperm to avail surrogacy procedures.

Types of Surrogacy:

Altruistic Surrogacy:

It involves no monetary compensation to the surrogate mother other than the medical expenses and insurance coverage during the pregnancy.

Commercial Surrogacy:

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.

Provisions of Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021:

Under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, a woman who is a widow or a divorcee between the age of 35 to 45 years or a couple, defined as a legally married woman and man, can avail of surrogacy if they have a medical condition necessitating this option.
The intended couple shall be a legally married Indian man and woman, the man shall be between the ages of 26-55 years and the woman shall be between the ages of 25-50 years, and shall not have any previous biological, adopted, or surrogate child.
It also bans commercial surrogacy, which is punishable with a jail term of 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakhs.
The law allows only altruistic surrogacy where no money exchanges hands and where a surrogate mother is genetically related to those seeking a child.