India's Surrogacy Bill: Whose Womb is it anyway?

India, one of the few countries that allowed commercial surrogacy , legalized commercial surrogacy in 2002. This opened the doors to a booming industry to meet foreign surrogacy requirements. As a result, India emerged as a surrogacy hub where couples from different countries came to reap the benefits of commercial surrogacy, low cost procedures, and easily available surrogates. (Refer to Exhibit I for reasons of opting for surrogacy) Unlike other countries like the US where surrogacy was extremely expensive, India was a safe hub where competent doctors and clean clinics were available at cheaper rates. (Refer to Exhibit II for Countries where commercial surrogacy is allowed or banned) Legal experts across the country opined that poverty, illiteracy, and lack of laws governing surrogacy were the driving forces behind the growing surrogacy market of India. Many considered surrogacy a win-win situation where poor women could earn money by becoming surrogate mothers and infertile couples got the children they wanted. The practice of surrogacy was often portrayed as rich foreigners exploiting Indian women from poor families....