President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday gave his assent to the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, which was earlier passed in the Lok Sabha on December 17 after the Rajya Sabha passed it on December 8.
Surrogacy is defined in the Act as a practice where a woman gives birth to a child for an intending couple with the intention of handing over the child to the couple after its birth. The Act, however, allows for only altruistic surrogacy and not commercial surrogacy. While altruistic surrogacy refers to one that involves no monetary compensation to the surrogate mother other than medical expenses and insurance coverage during pregnancy, commercial surrogacy includes surrogacy and related procedures undertaken for monetary benefit exceeding basic medical expenses and insurance coverage.
As per the Act, surrogacy is permitted given the following conditions; when intending couples suffer from proven infertility; altruistic; not for commercial purposes; not for producing children for sale, prostitution, or other forms of exploitation; and for any condition or disease specified through regulations.