Act does not allow surrogate mother to provide her own gametes, Supreme Court told

New Delhi, February 8

Noting that the child to be born through surrogacy must be genetically related to the intending couple or intending woman (widow or divorcee), the Centre has told the Supreme Court that the Surrogacy Act does not permit a surrogate mother to provide her own gametes (ova or egg cells).

Responding to a PIL challenging a ban on commercial surrogacy, the Centre has clarified that a surrogate mother may not be genetically related to the child born through the process as the Act prescribes that no woman shall act as a surrogate mother by providing her own gametes.

“It means that the child to be born through surrogacy to the intending couple should be formed of gametes of the intending couple themselves — sperms from the father and oocytes from the mother,” it said.