Tourist Visas No Longer Allowed for Commissioning Indian Surrogate

[Medicmedic]

There have been changes for couples travelling to India to commission a surrogate. Beginning Friday, November 1, 2013, tourist visas will no longer be allowed to travel for this purpose. Couples must apply for a medical visa instead stated the Home Ministry of India.

A medical visa, for surrogacy purposes, must meet the following conditions:
1) The couple must be married for two years.
2) A letter from the embassy of the foreign country in India or the Foreign Ministry of the country should be enclosed with the visa application stating clearly that the country recognizes surrogacy and the child/ children to be born to the commissioning couple through the Indian surrogate mother will be permitted entry into their country as a biological child/ children of the couple commissioning surrogacy.
3) The couple will have to furnish an undertaking that they would take care of the child/ children born through surrogacy, the treatment should be done only at one of the registered Assisted Reproductive Treatment (ART) clinics recognized by Indian Council of Medical Research. Besides, the couple should produce a duly notarized agreement between the applicant couple and the prospective Indian surrogate mother.

Failure to meet the criteria would result in rejection of the visa. Upon exiting the country with a surrogate born child, the conditions would be verified again, the custody of the child verified and the legal termination of surrogates responsibility to the child ensured.

The exception to this is that couples may travel on a tourist visa to India for the purpose of drawing up a contract, but no samples or embryos may be left with a clinic.

Would the restrictions cause you to pursue surrogacy in another country? Which countries do you know have active surrogacy laws and do they follow them?

[Ririand]

The Government of India has decided to stop this practice. Acquiring a child by participating in surrogacy programs is now available only to citizens of the country. This childbearing technology can be used by childless Indian couples who, for 5 years, can not conceive a child naturally or with the help of IVF. In fact, this is the termination of a commercial surrogacy, which flourished in the country. The reason for the ban is the frequent exploitation of women from poor families. And I think that's right. Because, really - these cases exist. To date, Ukraine, in my opinion, has become a very popular country for surrogacy.