New Surrogacy Rules: Government Mandates 3 Year Health Insurance Plan

New Surrogacy Rules: Relevance

• GS 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Surrogacy in India: Context

• Recently, the ministry of health and family welfare has notified that couples who intend to take the surrogacy route to become parents will have to buy a general health insurance coverage in favour of a surrogate mother for a period of 36 months.

New Surrogacy Rules: Key points

• The notification has been released under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules.
• The rules mandates that the insurance amount should be sufficient enough to cover expenses for all complications arising out of the pregnancy and also postpartum delivery complications.
• Also, the number of attempts of any surrogacy procedure on the surrogate mother should not be more than three times.
• Moreover, the surrogate mother may be allowed for abortion during the process of surrogacy in accordance with the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.
• The intending couple/woman have to give an affidavit in court as a guarantee of compensation for medical expenses, and such other prescribed expenses incurred on such surrogate mother during the process of surrogacy.
• The gynaecologist shall transfer one embryo in the uterus of a surrogate mother during a treatment cycle.
• The rules also give the provision of opting out in cases of multiple pregnancy losses resulting from an unexplained medical reason, or any illness that makes it impossible for a woman to carry a pregnancy to viability.

About Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021

• The Act came into force on January 25 this year.
• The Act provides for regulation of surrogacy services in the country, to prohibit the potential exploitation of surrogate mothers and to protect the rights of children born through surrogacy.
• The Bill also provides for National Registry and Registration Authority to maintain a Central database and assist the National Board in its functioning.
• The Bill also proposes for a stringent punishment for those practising sex selection, sale of human embryos or gametes, running agencies/rackets/organisations for such unlawful practices.

Benefits of Surrogacy Regulation Act

• The major benefit of the Act would be that it will regulate the Assisted Reproductive Technology services in the country.
• Consequently, infertile couples will be more ensured/confident of the ethical practices in ARTs.

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