If left unchecked 'surrogacy' may grow into a billion dollar biz: Delhi HC

New Delhi, The Delhi High Court Wednesday observed "surrogacy industry" should not be encouraged in India, where if left unchecked, it may grow into a billion dollar business. The court made the observation while hearing a plea by an Indian origin couple living in Canada challenging the March 14 notification issued by the Centre amending the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act to ban donor surrogacy by altering Form 2 under Rule 7 of the Surrogacy Rules, 2022.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna said the changes in surrogacy rules happened at the instance of the courts.

"Why should the court get into all this now? This industry (surrogacy) need not be encouraged here. You are based in Canada. You cannot run an industry here. This will become a billion dollars industry. This is not a case where we should be asking the government to do anything," the bench said.

It listed the matter for further hearing on January 15, 2024, when similar other petitions will also be heard.

The Delhi government was represented through standing counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi.

The petitioners said they are Indian nationals who got legally married according to Hindu rites and ceremonies, and are permanent residents of India.

They said they are a childless couple and have a medical condition that necessitated gestational surrogacy through which they intended to become parents.

The plea said the couple requested for surrogacy with oocyte donation where embryos were to be transferred into the uterus of the surrogate mother. The embryos were to be created from donor oocytes and sperm of the husband.

It said the couple was granted certificate of medical indication for surrogacy with donor oocyte in December 2022, stating that they can undergo a surrogacy procedure as an advanced treatment for infertility.

However, on March 14, 2023, the Centre issued a notification amending the surrogacy regulations and banning donor surrogacy.