Prohibition of commercial surrogacy, exploitation of surrogate mothers and children born through surrogacy

Section 38 of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 deals with prohibition of commercial surrogacy, exploitation of surrogate mothers and children born through surrogacy. No person, organisation, surrogacy clinic, laboratory or clinical establishment of any kind shall.— (a) undertake commercial surrogacy, provide commercial surrogacy or its related component procedures or services in any form or run a racket or an organised group to empanel or select surrogate mother The Act came into force on 25 Jan 2022.

(1) No person, organisation, surrogacy clinic, laboratory or clinical establishment of any kind shall.—

(a) undertake commercial surrogacy, provide commercial surrogacy or its related component procedures or services in any form or run a racket or an organised group to empanel or select surrogate mothers or use individual brokers or intermediaries to arrange for surrogate mothers and for surrogacy procedures, at such clinics, laboratories or at any other place;

(b) issue, publish, distribute, communicate or cause to be issued, published, distributed or communicated, any advertisement in any manner regarding commercial surrogacy by any means whatsoever, scientific or otherwise;

(c) abandon or disown or exploit or cause to be abandoned, disowned or exploited in any form, the child or children born through surrogacy;

(d) exploit or cause to be exploited the surrogate mother or the child born through surrogacy in any manner whatsoever;

(e) sell human embryo or gametes for the purpose of surrogacy and run an agency, a racket or an organisation for selling, purchasing or trading in human embryos or gametes for the purpose of surrogacy;

(f) import or shall help in getting imported in, whatsoever manner, the human embryo or human gametes for surrogacy or for surrogacy procedures; and

(g) conduct sex selection in any form for surrogacy.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), contraventions of the provisions of clauses (a) to (g) of sub-section (1) by any person shall be an offence punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years and with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees.

(3) For the purposes of this section, the expression “advertisement” includes any notice, circular, label, wrapper or any other document including advertisement through internet or any other media, in electronic or print form and also includes any visible representation made by means of any hoarding, wall-painting, signal light, sound, smoke or gas.

Section 38, The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 (Act 47 of 2021).