As regards the apprehensions and actual incidents of the surrogate child getting illtreated, abused, sold, trafficked or exploited in any manner, it has been opined that
to prevent such mishaps, the intending couple should be screened for their fitness
to be parents, their socio-economic background, criminal records in past, family
information, etc. Although, the chances of these occurrences would be minimal owing
to the provision in the Surrogacy Act mandating that only couples with a medical
condition necessitating surrogacy will be permitted by the appropriate authority to go
ahead with the surrogacy procedure, all the same, certain precautions of this kind can
further help in dealing with the problem.
Some of the Court/other cases relating to violation of rights of children born through
surrogacy may be worth looking into in the context of the subject of this article:
•
In Jan Balaz v.Union of India23, the court conferred Indian citizenship on twin
babies fathered through compensated surrogacy by a German national. The court
observed that: “We are primarily concerned with the rights of two newborn,
innocent babies, much more than the rights of the biological parents, surrogate
mother and the donor of the ova. Eventually, the Supreme Court of India intervened
and the babies were provided exit permits.
•
A Japanese commissioning couple refused to accept their surrogate child born
through an Indian surrogate mother due to divorce and break of their marriage.
The surrogate mother was also not capable to accept the child. Court intervened24
and directed the custody of the child to the grandmother.
•
An Australian couple took home only one of the twins born to an Indian surrogate
mother. National inquiry was initiated25 by the Family Court in Sydney.
•
In another incident26, the Indian authorities busted an alleged racket when a
Malaysian man was arrested while smuggling live human embryos to an IVF clinic
in Mumbai. They suspected the embryos were meant to be used for surrogacy
through Indian women because Malaysia did not permit surrogacy. The impact on
the rights of children born in the process is not beyond imagination.
All these and other such cases give insight into the scenario that existed prior to the
Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021.They were, in fact, instrumental in the initiation of
the formulation of the law on the subject and highlighting the need for safeguarding
the rights of children born out of surrogacy. It was also observed that most of the
Jan Balaz v. Anand Municipality[AIR 2010 Guj. 21]
Baby Manji Yamada v. Union of India[2008 13 SCC 518]
25
An Australian couple case link:https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/aussie-couple-abandonedsurrogate-baby-in-india/articleshow/44766805.cms
26
Smuggling embryos incident: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/flyer-from-malaysiaheld-for-trying-to-smuggle-in-embryo/articleshow/68473046.cms
23
24
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Journal of the National Human Rights Commission, Vol. 22, 2023