Indian IVF Law May Stop Gay Surrogacy

A draft bill to regulate in vitro fertilization (IVF) in India may exclude gay couples from hiring surrogates to bear them children because same-sex relationships are not recognized in India.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the bill could affect growing numbers of gay couples from Australia and other Western countries that hire surrogates in India.

"R.S. Sharma, the secretary of the committee writing a bill to govern assisted reproductive technology (ART), told the Herald that unless gay and lesbian relationships are legalised in India, gay couples would be excluded from hiring surrogates."

Last year's Delhi High Court ruling that decriminalized gay sex did not legalize same-sex relationships.

"If our government does not permit gay relationships, then it certainly will not be permitted for foreign gay couples to come to this country and have a [surrogacy] agreement," said Dr. Sharma, deputy director-general of the reproductive health and nutrition division at the India Council of Medical Research, according to the Herald.

Strict provisions in the bill, such as the requirement that foreign countries guarantee to accept the surrogate child as a citizen, could affect all couples, not just same-sex couples, seeking a surrogacy arrangement in India.