While hearing the pleas challenging certain surrogacy laws, the Supreme Court today emphasized the need to safeguard the interests of surrogate mothers, even though commercial surrogacy is prohibited in India.
A bench comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh was hearing a batch of petitions pertaining to the Surrogacy Regulation Act and the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021, when it observed that there is a need for a “system”, so that no woman is exploited.
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“There can be a database, so that the same lady is not exploited. A system must be there. Nobody is saying it’s a bad idea, but at the same time, it can be badly used”, orally said Justice Nagarathna.
On the aspect of compensation, the judge added that the Court will consider the aspect of a designated authority disbursing funds to surrogate mothers, instead of the intending couple paying them directly: “You don’t have to pay directly to the lady, the Department pays. You will have to deposit”.
