Priyanka Chopra recently welcomed a baby girl & her announcement sparked debate on Surrogacy! But why is it a big deal for us? Know about Surrogacy Laws in India
Highlights:
- What’s surrogacy?
- Know why do families choose it?
- Priyanka Chopra Jonas trolled for opting surrogacy aside from normal pregnancy – But why is it a big deal for us?
- What Does Surrogacy mean?
In the past few years, surrogacy has become another common way to experience motherhood. In India, new age couples are now more open to the procedure. Over the years, we have seen many mainstream films made on the topic to create awareness. Last year, Kriti Sanon starrer film Mimi was well received by the audience. Recently, Priyanka Chopra Jonas too announced that she and her husband Nick have been blessed with a baby girl surrogacy. However, as soon as she made the announcement, it sparked a debate on the internet and many questioned her choice. But why is surrogacy a big deal in India? In this article, we will take a look at Surrogacy Laws in India and couples who opted for the same.
Firstly, what is surrogacy?
In simple words Surrogacy means when a woman agrees to carry a baby for someone else. After the birth of the baby, the custody is handed over to intended parents. Notably, Surrogacy has complex laws and rules that must be met. There are two sorts of surrogacy:
Traditional surrogacy : Talking about Traditional surrogacy, a lady who gets artificially inseminated with the father’s sperm or that of a donor. They then carry the baby and deliver it for the couple to raise. A standard surrogate is the baby’s biological mother. That’s because it had been their egg that was fertilized by the father’s sperm (or a donor)
Gestational surrogacy : Gestational surrogates, a method called “in vitro fertilization” (IVF) now makes it possible to collect eggs from the mother or an egg donor, fertilize them with sperm from the father , and place the embryo into the uterus of a gestational surrogate. The surrogate then carries the baby until birth. They do not have any genetic ties to the kid because it wasn’t their egg that was used. The gestational mother is additionally called the birth mother. However, pregnancy and gestation involve psychological burden and health risks for the mother. Moreover, the legal procedures for parenthood following surrogacy are complicated thanks to the standard legal assumption that a lady parturition to a toddler is the legitimate mother of the kid . Therefore, a mother is required to formally abandon parental authority , and therefore the intended parents then adopt the child born.
A lot of Stigma is attached to Surrogacy. Notably, In the year 2015, Commercial Surrogacy was banned in India as the country became a hub for surrogate mothers. Let us discuss Surrogate Laws in India in detail.
Surrogacy Laws in India
The Rajya Sabha in December 2021 gave approval to two important bills for surrogacy and other reproductive procedures i.e. the Surrogacy Regulation Bill 2019 and Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill 2020. The main idea behind the bill is to prohibit the commercial surrogacy while allowing altruistic surrogacy (where no expenses are paid to the surrogate mother, other than medical expenses.) certain eligibility criteria are laid down in the bill as well;
- The couple is required to have a “certificate of essentiality” which has the proof of infertility of either one or both parents.
- Court order on custody of the child born through surrogate mother, and insurance cover for the birth mother for 16 months including postpartum delivery complications.
- Couple has to include a man between the age of 26-55 and a woman of age 25-50.
- The couple has to be Indian, married forat least5 years
- They should not have any biological, adopted or surrogate child unless the child is mentally/ physically challenged or has a life-threatening disease.
- The surrogate mother should be ever married (at leastonce in her life), she should be 25-35 years of age
- Any woman agreeing to become a surrogate, cannot be a surrogate more than once in her life, also she should be healthy medically and psychologically.
- Written consent of the surrogate is important before the start of the procedure.
- The surrogate can withdraw anytime before the embryo is placed in her womb.
- The becoming parents are forbidden from abandoning the child after birth under any circumstances.
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Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas welcome their first child through a surrogate mother
On 22nd January 202, Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra made an announcement about how delighted they are on welcoming their 1st child with the assistance of a surrogate. The couple took it to Instagram to share the happy news with their fans. “We are overjoyed to verify that we have welcomed a baby via surrogate. We respectfully invite privacy during this special time as we specialize in our family, the couple wrote on their gram posts tagging one another.
Their announcement sparked a debate on the internet. Some people find it hard to digest that the superstar chooses an unconventional route to motherhood. In that case, let us see who all have opted for the same.
Other celebs who also welcomed children through a surrogate- King Khan of bollywood aka Shah Rukh Khan and wife Gauri khan became proud parents to their third child Abram through surrogacy in 2013 after eldest son Aryan and daughter Suhana.
Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao welcomed their son Azaad in 2011 through IVF. The Laal Singh Chaddha actor has also encouraged couples to undertake IVF and surrogacy, during thanks to destigmatize the method.
Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra welcomed a daughter, their second child together, Samisha, in 2020 through surrogacy.
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Preity Zinta and her husband, Gene Goodenough, became parents to twins Jai and Gia Zinta Goodenough via surrogacy . Preity shared the great news in November 2021.
Karan Johar welcomed Yash and Roohi into his family after the famous director-producer opted for surrogacy who were born in February 2017. Karan Johar has admitted on several occasions that becoming a father has changed his life. He’s a single father,and his mother, Hiroo Johar helps him.
Tusshar Kapoor is a single father, He welcomed his baby boy Laksshya via surrogacy in June 2016. Laksshya is the first grandchild of Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor.
