Surrogate Mothers Selection Criteria

ICMR Guidelines

The Indian Council for Medical Research provides for a list of guidelines to be followed on selection of surrogates on surrogacy process and IVF treatments in ART clinics located in India.

• Surrogate may be referred by doctor or surrogacy agency; however, negotiations between the couple and the surrogate need to be carried out independently during surrogacy process.
• Payment done to surrogate must be acknowledged through receipt on each expense during the process of surrogacy.
• Advertisement should not be done by ART clinic on surrogates.
• The surrogate age should not exceed 45 years to qualify as surrogate in a infertility treatment.
• The ART clinic or Infertility clinics are entrusted with responsibility on providing guidelines to couples through the processes of egg donation, embryo donation and surrogacy.

Health and background requirements to qualify as surrogate

The selection criteria for selection of surrogate includes adherence to following parameters:

• Sound Physical Health including Reproductive Health and no major health issues or concerns.
• Good Age Range typically between 21-35 years of age.
• Surrogate must not have addiction to smoking or other forms of tobacco abuse and must not have history for alcohol abuse.
• Surrogate carrier should ideally have given birth to one child.
• No previous complications with previous pregnancy including own and commercial surrogacy.
• Healthy weight range measured by Basal Metabolic Index not exceeding 28.
• The surrogate must be emotionally secure, and not prone to distress or psychological issues.
• The surrogate must have a good support system to support the financial and mental requirement as well as societal concerns.

General information on Surrogacy clauses for surrogate

• Psychological, background and medical pre-screening must also be completed, at every registration for surrogacy, to qualify as surrogate.
• The legal process follows pre-medical screening and medical diagnostics with agreement between the Intended parents, surrogate and ART clinic.
• Married surrogate must include a no objection to register for surrogacy and acceptance by surrogate, to offer womb for carrying pregnancy for the intended parents. Surrogate is required to sign clause to renounce parenthood rights, on surrogacy baby, born from the surrogacy therapy.
• A relative can register to act as a surrogate for the intended parents a married couple with over two years of marriage. The binding clause for such surrogacy requires the relative to belong to the same generation, as the women desiring to be intended parent.
• The surrogate is replaced or substituted at failure of three cycles of IVF treatment during a surrogacy therapy.
• All these clauses are applicable on selection of surrogates for surrogacy process and IVF treatment in India. Draft legislation on surrogacy selection guidelines and ART treatment known as ART bill 2010, is expected to be approved by parliament, to provide revisions to legal frameworks on the subject-matter.

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