Indian PM Narendra Modi's administration modified rules governing the process of a person carrying and giving birth to a baby for someone else.
The latest notification states: "In case when the District Medical Board certified that either husband or wife constituting the intending couple suffers from medical condition necessitating use of donor gamete, then surrogacy using donor gamete is allowed."
It means that if one of the persons forming the intended couple suffers from a medical condition due to which they cannot use their gamete (sperm or egg) for implantation inside a surrogate mother, then a third-party donor could donate its gametes for implantation.
Yes. The Indian Supreme Court last year allowed a woman with a rare genital disorder to undergo surrogacy using donor egg.
The earlier rule necessitated that both the egg and sperm (for implantation inside the surrogate mother) must come from the "intending couple".
As many women intending to embrace motherhood grow older, the number and quality of eggs decline with age. With surrogacy via donor gamete now allowed, the new rule —therefore —is being hailed as a positive step by health experts across India.