Rethinking commercial vs. altruistic surrogacy in India

In mid-October, the Supreme Court of India raised questions against the practice of commercial surrogacy. Later that month, the Central government responded with a ban on allowing foreign couples from hiring surrogates in India, permitting only altruistic surrogacy for infertile Indian couples. Although these changes are not surprising given the recent ban on commercial surrogacy in neighboring countries such as Thailand and Nepal, the justification of such a move needs greater scrutiny. Media frenzy on high profile cases of babies being stateless and parentless, such as, Baby Manji in India (2008) and Baby Gammy in Thailand (2015) had added immense pressure on the government to take the “right” decision. The resulting ban is an expression of the government’s reservations on the burgeoning business of surrogacy in India.