Officials from India’s government announced that gay couples and single individuals from other countries who wish to start a family are prohibited from using the country’s popular surrogate program, New Delhi Television Limited reports.
India’s surrogacy program is a growing industry. Over the past few years, foreign couples, both gay and straight, have taken advantage of the country’s low-cost and legally simple way to access a surrogate. The new measure, however, not only bars same-sex couples from using the surrogates but also leaves gay couples who already started the process in limbo.
The new rules state that only straight couples who have been married for more than two years can use India’s surrogacy program. Notified by the change from a message on the Indian Home Ministry’s website, fertility clinics and LGBT rights activists termed the move “discriminatory”.
“It’s totally unfair – not only for gay people but for people who are not married who may have been living together for years and for singles,” Mumbai gay rights advocate Nitin Karani said.
“Parenting is everybody’s right and now we’re withdrawing that right,” Dr. Rita Bakshi, who is the head of the International Fertility Centre in New Delhi, said. “These rules are definitely not welcome, definitely restrictive and very discriminatory.” Read full article.
