Surrogacy Rules Amended, Couples Allowed to Use Sperm, Egg from Donors

New Delhi: The Central government has amended rules for surrogacy to allow couples to use an egg or sperm from a donor if one of the partners is suffering from a medical condition.

But the district medical board will have to certify that either the man or the woman is suffering from a medical condition that needs the use of a donor’s gamete.

A February 21 gazette notification from the Union health ministry effectively reverses a March 14, 2023, notification that had specified that a couple opting for surrogacy “must have both gametes from the intending couple and donor gametes (are) not allowed”.

Under the revised rules, when a district medical board “certifies that either the husband or wife constituting the intending couple suffers from a medical condition necessitating the use of donor gamete, then surrogacy using donor gamete is allowed”.

The donor gamete will be allowed on the condition that the child born through surrogacy must have at least one gamete from the intending couple.

The rules also say a single woman (widow or divorcee) who is opting for surrogacy must use self-eggs and donor sperm for the surrogacy procedure.

The amendment comes after the Supreme Court had in December 2023 questioned the earlier rules and said, “The very purpose of surrogacy would get defeated by such rules.”