Liberation or Exploitation: Commercial Surrogacy and the Indian Surrogate
![handle is hein.journals/sujtnlr36 and id is 713 raw text is: LIBERATION OR EXPLOITATION:
COMMERCIAL SURROGACY AND THE
INDIAN SURROGATE
I. INTRODUCTION
Commercial surrogacy in India is currently estimated to
generate more than USD2 billion in revenue annually.' The
procedure that became legal in India in 2002 is different from
other countries which have adopted the same practice in one
very critical way-India does not strive to provide a rare solu-
tion for infertile couples, but instead seeks to maintain hegem-
ony in an increasingly viable industry.2 This booming market
comes at a dangerous time because India has no laws in place to
protect the rights of the surrogate.3 The Indian Government has
put forward a bill to legally codify the use of assisted reproduc-
tive technologies (ARTs), but this bill has neither become law
nor contains essential provisions needed to protect the rights of
surrogates.4 This piece will analyze those failures in light of rel-
evant international treaties to which India is a party, and iden-
tify key provisions that must be included in any legislation
enacted by the Indian government in order to adequately pro-
tect surrogates against human rights abuses.s
1. Associated Foreign Press, Wombs for Rent: Commercial Surrogacy Big Busi-
ness in India, THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, Feb. 25, 2013, http://tribune.com.pk/story/
512264/wombs-for-rent-commercial-surrogacy-big-business-in-indial (discussing con-
cerns relating to booming surrogacy industry). Many ethical concerns have been
raised in regards to wealthy foreigners paying impoverished Indians to carry their
babies. Id. See also Raywat Deonandan, India's Assisted Reproduction Bill and
the Maternal Surrogacy Industry, 4 INT'L REv. Soc. Sci. & HUMAN. 169, 172 (2012)
(describing leveraging of poverty in Indian surrogacy market).
2. Wombs for Rent: Commercial Surrogacy Growing in India, ASSOCIATED
PREss, Dec. 30, 2007, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,319106,00.html#ixzz2PLR
mr5vp (raising concerns based on India's purpose behind permitting commercial
surrogacy).
3. See infra notes 43-44 and accompanying text (outlining proposed legislation
and non-binding regulations).
4. See generally MINISTRY OF HEALTH & FAMILY WELFARE, Gov'T. OF INDIA,
NEw DELHI, The Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill 2010, availa-
ble at http://icmr.nic.in/guide/ART%20REGULATION%20Draft%2OBilll.pdf [here-
inafter Assisted Reproductive Technologies Bill] (creating new regulations for ART
clinics).
5. See infra Parts I-III (using proposed Bill and international law to formulate
recommendations).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/sujtnlr36&div=32&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Liberation or Exploitation: Commercial Surrogacy and the Indian Surrogate
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