After the Hyderabad police raid on a fertility clinic, the spotlight is back on the legal ambiguity around surrogacy and Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) in the country.
During a raid at Sai Kiran Infertility Centre on Saturday, 48 women who signed up to be surrogate mothers were found holed up in the building. The women were kept at the centre for the entire duration of their pregnancy.
The women staying in the centre said that they were not being forced into surrogacy. However, they’re reportedly not “allowed” to go out.
As the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 is still pending in Parliament, commercial surrogacy is legal in India. Some health officials have said that while the operation may not be illegal, it is unethical at many levels.