India Plans Regulations for Surrogate Motherhood

New Delhi: Concerned with an increasing number of foreigners coming to India to rent a womb, the government is planning to come out with regulations to ensure legal and medical rights to surrogate mothers and children born to them.

"We have seen that couples fly to India, persuade a woman here to rent out her womb for money and then they happily take the child to their country. How do they get the child's passport?" an agitated Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhury told reporters here Wednesday.

Chairing a meeting of experts, NGOs and health officers, Chowdhury said there are no laws in this regard. "It is free for all. We have no figures. What happens if a surrogate mother dies during childbirth? What if she has multiple births?"

"We want to know if the couples' need is genuine or not, or it is to sell these children for organs or trafficking," she asked.

Chowdhury said the government was working on legislation on the newly developing trend. "We plan to seriously work on this and will come out with...