Legality poses a roadblock to surrogacy haven- India

23.06.10

After German couples, it's English couples’ turn to be vary of commercial surrogacy in India as they could have trouble bringing the newborn back home.

Founder of Indian Surrogacy Law Center, G.R. Hari advises English couples to be cautious of a surrogacy arrangement in India, with third-party egg donors, as the U.K law only guarantees citizenship to babies that are genetically related to their mothers.

This surrogacy lawyer who founded India’s first fertility law firm says that most couples seeking surrogacy in India are ill-informed about potential legal hassles and that surrogacy clinics do little to inform them.

He says that with an exception of a few clinics most clinics do not give the couples a legal assessment of the surrogacy arrangement.

He entreats the couples to undergo a legal risk assessment at the earliest, even before they contact a surrogacy clinic.

Most legal complications arise after birth when it is time to take the new-born back to the parents’ home country he says.

He says that Indian law doesn’t extend citizenship to children that are born to Indian surrogates especially to those commissioned by foreign couples.

Hence, the best solutions would be for couples to get a guarantee of citizenship from their respective embassies before embarking on surrogacy in India recommends G.R.Hari.