Is Surrogacy Legal in India?
With changes to the laws in India surrounding surrogates in recent years, Bazaar Arabia shares what we know about the Bollywood celebrities who have opted to start their families with the help of science
Is surrogacy legal in India? Bazaar Arabia shares everything we know.
There are so many different ways to welcome bundles of joy into the world in 2022, but none has been a topic of discussion more than having a baby via surrogacy – and especially so in India in 2022.
While the country did legalise surrogacy back in 2002, earlier this year The National reported that the country had been cracking down on commercial surrogacy — or “rent-a-womb” as they put it — in order to prevent the exploitation of women. The newspaper reported that in 2012 the surrogacy industry in India was valued at $2 billion; in 2015 surrogacy for foreigners was banned.
Recently, the conversation surrounding the legalities of surrogacy in India was brought back to the front burner when Bollywood celebrity couple Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan announced the arrival of twin boys via surrogacy.
Nayan & Me have become Amma & Appa❤️
We are blessed with
twin baby Boys❤️❤️
All Our prayers,our ancestors’ blessings combined wit all the good manifestations made, have come 2gethr in the form Of 2 blessed babies for us❤️?
Need all ur blessings for our
Uyir?❤️& Ulagam?❤️ pic.twitter.com/G3NWvVTwo9— Vignesh Shivan (@VigneshShivN) October 9, 2022
And they’re not the only Bollywood stars to have their babies via surrogacy…
While Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas are certainly two of the most famous stars to have given birth via surrogate (her daughter Malti Marie Chopra Jonas was born via surrogacy earlier this year), many other Bollywood stars have opted to, ahem, outsource their pregnancies.
Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra; Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan; Preity Zinta and Gene Goodenough; Seema and Sohail Khan; Amir Khan and Kiran Rao; and Karan Johar have all had at least one child via surrogate.
Why do celebrities choose surrogacy?
There are a variety of reasons why couples from all walks of life opt for the surrogate route, from fertility challenges to health issues.
For example, Kim Kardashian was advised by her doctors not to carry any more of her children after she had complications with her first two pregnancies.
According to some sources, Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas opted to have their child via surrogate because of their busy schedules – which often meant they would be apart from one and other. An insider reportedly told the Daily Mail that their decision was not because the actress had fertility issues, but because they couldn’t find time to physically be together to “conceive when she is ovulating.”
The couple has yet to confirm whether or not this is true — therefore, we cannot be sure why they chose to go down the surrogate route.
Priyanka and Nick certainly aren’t the first celebrity couple to welcome a child via surrogate. Other notable Hollywood A-Listers like Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, Jimmy Fallon and Nancy Juvonen Fallon and Tyra Banks having started their respective families with the help of science.
Is Surrogacy Legal in India?
The short answer is yes, however, there are certain restrictions in place to prevent the exploitation of surrogate mothers.
Lead image courtesy of Instagam/@priyankachopra and @wikkiofficial