General information, not legal advice
This page explains the law in plain words. Your own case may have details that change the answer. Speak to an advocate who handles surrogacy matters before you apply.
The Surrogacy Act in brief
The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 decides who can use surrogacy, who can be a surrogate and how the process is run. The Surrogacy Rules, 2022 add the detail, such as the medical conditions that qualify.
The law has one clear aim. Surrogacy must be a medical answer to a medical problem, not a paid service. Every step is tied to certificates issued by government bodies.
A second law, the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021, covers IVF clinics and gamete banks. A surrogacy pregnancy uses IVF, so both laws apply together.
Altruistic and commercial surrogacy
Only altruistic surrogacy is legal in India. The difference lies in what the surrogate receives.
| Point | Altruistic (allowed) | Commercial (prohibited) |
|---|---|---|
| Payment to surrogate | Medical expenses and other prescribed expenses, such as loss of wages | Any fee, reward or payment beyond the prescribed expenses |
| Insurance | Intending parents buy insurance for her for 36 months | Not relevant, as the arrangement itself is illegal |
| Legal status | Permitted with the required certificates | A criminal offence |
A surrogate does not need to be a relative. What matters is that she meets the legal conditions and receives nothing beyond the permitted expenses and insurance.
Who can be intending parents
Two groups can apply. Both must be Indian.
- A legally married Indian couple. The wife must be 23 to 50 and the husband 26 to 55. A District Medical Board must certify the medical need.
- An Indian widow or divorced woman aged 35 to 45. She must use her own eggs with donor sperm.
Unmarried single women, single men and foreigners cannot be intending parents. A couple of Indian origin needs a certificate of recommendation from the National Board.
A couple with a surviving child usually cannot apply. The detailed rules, including the exception for a child with a serious illness or disability, are on our surrogacy eligibility page.
Who can be a surrogate
The surrogate must be a willing, ever-married woman aged 25 to 35 who has a child of her own. She can be a surrogate only once in her lifetime.
- She is not genetically related to the child.
- She cannot give her own eggs for the pregnancy.
- She does not have to be a relative of the couple.
The embryo is made through IVF using the intending parents' own gametes, or a permitted donor gamete. It is then placed in her uterus.
Registration of surrogacy clinics
Surrogacy can be done only at a clinic registered for surrogacy. This is a separate registration from the ART registration that every IVF clinic needs.
Under the ART Act, ART clinics and banks register with the National Registry. The registration must be renewed every five years. Before you start, ask any clinic to confirm that it holds both registrations.
Penalties under the law
Commercial surrogacy is a criminal offence. This covers paying a surrogate beyond the permitted expenses and any arrangement that treats surrogacy as a paid service.
Sex selection is also illegal, under both the PCPNDT Act and the ART Act. A legal surrogacy clinic will not discuss the sex of the baby. If anyone offers paid surrogates or sex selection, walk away.
Recent changes to the law
Two changes since the Act came into force matter most to couples.
February 2024: donor egg or sperm allowed
The Surrogacy Rules were amended to allow a donor egg or donor sperm when a District Medical Board certifies a medical need. The child must still have at least one gamete from the couple. Our donor gamete rules page explains how this works.
9 October 2025: Supreme Court ruling on age
In Arun Muthuvel v. Union of India, the Supreme Court looked at couples caught by the age limits. It held that the age bar does not apply to couples who had already begun, with embryos frozen, before the Act came into force.
The Court did not strike down the age limits set by Parliament. For everyone else, they still apply.
May 2026: ART age limit and frozen embryos
The ART Act allows ART services to women above 21 and below 50, and men above 21 and below 55. On 25 May 2026 the Delhi High Court held that this limit applies when treatment starts. A couple can continue with embryos frozen during treatment begun earlier.
How the process works in practice
The law turns surrogacy into a series of certificates and orders. You start with a medical assessment and a District Medical Board certificate. You then need an essentiality certificate, a court order on parentage and custody, and insurance for the surrogate.
Certificates are valid for one year. Up to three embryo transfer attempts are allowed with the same surrogate. Each step is set out on our surrogacy process and certificates page.
Under the Act, surrogacy costs are medical and legal costs only. See surrogacy cost in India for an itemised breakdown.
Where a doctor fits in
The law starts with a medical question: does this couple truly need surrogacy? Many couples who think so can still conceive with IVF after a proper assessment.
Dr. Sunita Singh Rathore reviews your history and reports first. If surrogacy is medically indicated, she explains the medical side and the paperwork that follows. The legal filings are best handled with your advocate.