Abstract
In vitro fertilization (IVF) and surrogacy have enabled many to achieve their dreams of parenthood. With a turnover of $500 million, reproductive tourism in India has helped transform the country into a “global baby factory.” However, as the surrogacy industry grew, so did concerns of women’s exploitation, commodification of motherhood, and human rights violations. In an effort to prevent women from being exploited, the Indian government had taken successive administrative measures to regulate surrogacy. The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 and Assisted Reproductive Technologies Bill 2008 were introduced in the Parliament to regulate various aspects of surrogacy arrangements. Yet, it was not until 25 January 2022, that the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 went into effect. The Act does, however, leave certain important points unaddressed. The article claims that the legislation’s purposeful exclusion of the LGBTQ population and emphasis on “familial altruism” stinks of inequity and moral conservatism. It also delineates the mechanics of altruistic surrogacy by examining documents that illustrate how the connections between money and morality are framed via the framing of altruism. The article therefore demands that a comprehensive dialogue must be held considering the socio-economic realities of Indian society, or else India risks enacting yet another law that cannot be implemented or that society dislikes.
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Notes
Baby Manji Yamada vs Union of India et al., Writ petition No. 369 of 2008. The High Court of Gujarat has handed down its judgment in Jan Balaz vs. Anand Municipality, LPA 2159/2009.
In accordance with the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 2011, this section now includes grandparents as well as grandchildren. Yet, in the report of the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha (2020), the amended law is not mentioned.
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Kashyap, S., Tripathi, P. The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021: A Critique. ABR 15, 5–18 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41649-022-00222-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41649-022-00222-5