Gestational surrogacy is an legal arrangement in which a woman (surrogate)
agrees to carry a pregnancy, with the intention to hand over the child to
the infertile couple for whom she is acting as a surrogate. The pregnancy is
achieved through
IVF treatment using gametes of the intended parents and surrogate
mother has no genetic connection to the child.
Indications for Surrogacy
There are many indications for which surrogacy can be offered including:
- Congenital or acquired absence of a functioning uterus: Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome
- Hysterectomy for various reasons
- Significant structural abnormalities, presence of multiple fibroids
- Severe Adenomyosis
- Persistently thin endometrium due to endometrial TB
- Severe adhesions in the uterine cavity / Asherman’s syndrome
- Repeated miscarriages, repeated unexplained IVF failures despite of good-quality embryos
- Repeated IVF failure – due to non-receptive uterus
- Medical conditions, which might be life threatening for a woman during pregnancy,
Surrogacy treatment involves multiple steps and legal formalities. the various steps included in surrogacy process include:
- Patient selection
- Selection and screening of prospective surrogate
- Counselling of Patients and surrogate
- Legal requirements, Financial contracts and Transparency of arrangement
- Controlled ovarian stimulation and IVF/ICSI Treatment
- Preparing the surrogate
- Synchronizing the cycles of the surrogate and the genetic mother or donor
- Embryo transfer
- Obstetric care of surrogate
Presently in India we do not have any laws regulating the Surrogacy as
the bill hasn’t yet been passed and hence it does not have a binding force.
In the current scenario, it is appropriate to function under the framework
of ICMR guidelines.
The intending couple should have the eligibility certificate issued
by the appropriate authorities stating the essentiality of surrogacy. The
intending couple should be married for at least 5 years and should not have
any surviving child biologically or through adoption or through surrogacy
earlier. The female partners age should be between 23-50 years and male age
should be between 26-55years on the day of certification.