Surrogacy rules changed in India: Couples, single women to benefit but conditions apply

livemint.com:

the notification issued on Wednesday. The notification added that 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 implies that a couple cannot opt for surrogacy if both the partners have medical problems or are unable to have their own gametes.

ALSO READ: Centre mandates 3-yr health insurance plan for surrogate mothers As per the notification, "single women (widow or divorcee) undergoing surrogacy must use self-eggs and donor sperm to avail surrogacy procedures." She has to use her own eggs for the process. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare amended the earlier rules that stated that couples undergoing surrogacy must have both gametes from the intending couple. The latest 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. Several pleas were filed in the Supreme Court following the amendment made in Rule 7 on surrogacy on March 14, 2023. The Rule 7 talks about the ‘Consent of the Surrogate Mother and Agreement for Surrogacy’ and deals about fertilisation of donor oocytes by the sperm of the husband.