The Centre has clarified in the Supreme Court that as per the surrogacy law, a child born through surrogacy must be genetically related to the intending couple – sperms from the father and oocytes from the mother. A provision of the Surrogacy Act prescribes that a woman cannot act as a surrogate mother by providing her own gametes (reproductive cells).
A bench headed by justice Ajay Rastogi is hearing pleas, including one that has challenged certain provisions of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 and the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021, claiming that these provisions directly infringe upon the right to privacy and are against the reproductive rights of the women.
The Centre, in its submissions to the court, notified that it had formed the National Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Board under section 3 of the ART Act and section 17 of the Surrogacy Act.
Under section 25 of the Surrogacy Act, the Surrogacy Board has the power to advise the Centre on policy matters relating to assisted reproductive technology and surrogacy, and to look into the functioning of various bodies under the two statutes, including the state boards.