Sai Vaishnav, Symbiosis Law School Hyderabad, Symbiosis International (Deemed University)
ABSTRACT
Surrogacy renders to be a very controversial concept that is on the rise currently, which pertains to the method of assisted reproduction. It is a process whereby a woman carries pregnancy for a couple. This paper seeks to throw light on the various questions pertaining to the legality and ethicality of this method in India and to analyse the various pros and cons posed by this technique of reproduction. This concept being a legal arrangement gives rise to lots of doubts regarding its legality. Moreover, experts claim this method to be violative of women and that this concept tends to exploit vulnerable women, which has resulted in a lot of nations banning the entire concept of surrogacy. The following paper attempts to highlight and address the dilemmas posed by the practice of surrogacy. Certain nations allow all kinds of surrogacy while some completely forbid it. There are some nations which permit only altruistic surrogacy but prohibit commercial surrogacy. The research seeks to study the rationale behind the decisions by the various governments regarding surrogacy and the policies or laws in the respective countries. Moreover, there shall be emphasis on understanding the practice of the two types of surrogacy - Commercial surrogacy and Altruistic surrogacy. The research has been conducted in a manner that tries study the advantages and disadvantages of commercial and altruistic surrogacy respectively, to analyse the situation regarding surrogacy in India and compare it with other nations. Finally the following paper presents and analyses the facts of the landmark case which formally legalised commercial surrogacy in India (Baby Manji Yamada v. Union of India).
Keywords: surrogacy, commercial surrogacy, altruistic surrogacy
