Report No. 228

III. Seminar on 'surrogacy - Bane or Boon'

3.1 A seminar on "Surrogacy - Bane or Boon" was held at the India International Centre on 13.02.2009. The discussion focused on the aforesaid draft Bill and Rules. Certain lacunae were noted in the Bill.

3.2 The Bill neither creates, nor designates or authorizes any court or quasi-judicial forum for adjudication of disputes arising out of surrogacy, ART and surrogacy agreements. Disputes may, inter alia, relate to parentage, nationality, issuance of passport, grant of visa. There is already a conflict on adoption and guardianship as non-Hindus cannot adopt in India. Such disputes need to be resolved before a child is removed from India to a foreign country.

3.3 A suggestion at the above Seminar emerged that if a specialized court called "Surrogacy Court" is created, it could comprehensively look at all the above problems for adjudicating disputes.