Impact of Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 on Surrogacy in India

The right to found a family is clearly established under International Human Right laws as well as regional Human Right instruments. Procreation of children is an inbuilt element of marriage and family, and this concept is accepted universally all over the world. However some individuals may not be able to have children due to the problems of infertility. In such a situation surrogacy is one of the latest technological advancement for alleviating the wish of individual to have a biological child. Today surrogacy in India is governed predominantly through private contract between the parties. In the absence of regulation of such contract, breach will occur which will result in the exploitation of women. The presentation of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 on 21st November 2016, in the Parliament was a welcoming step towards strengthening the procedure of Surrogacy. This article tries to analyse the impact of the Bill on surrogacy trying to point out the positive and negative aspects of the Bill.