An important condition for the improvement in welfare is that both parties participate in the transaction voluntarily absent this and the transaction is nothing but exploitation and theft. The buyer believes that (s)he has received more in value than has been paid for the product or service and the seller earns more than it has cost to produce the product or service. Economics states that any market transaction that that is completed necessarily leads to an improvement in welfare. In the surrogacy market, the potential SM enters into a transaction with the IP. A particularly strong critique of the Indian surrogacy market on this ground comes from Kristine Schanbacher who believes that the market completely fails to uphold the principles of medical ethics. The exploitation argument needs to be considered seriously. I will not touch on these but direct the reader to Richard Posner and Aristides Hatzis who effectively demolish these arguments against surrogacy. In addition, there are concerns about commodification of women (akin to prostitution), baby-selling and similarity with organ sales. The question also needs to be asked whether the proposed ban on commercial surrogacy will alleviate or exacerbate these concerns. Each of these issues is important and needs careful examination. The main fears are: (1) exploitation by third parties, (2) lack of fully-informed consent and (3) threats to the mother's mental and physical health during and after the pregnancy. I would like to focus on the issues related to the SM. These reasons are related to the interests and welfare of the surrogate mother (SM), the intended parents (IP) and the unborn child.

There are various reasons why commercial surrogacy has come under a cloud and these are probably the reason why the Government of India proposes to ban it.

However, these guidelines have not been codified into law and, hence, are not legally enforceable.

Given the nature of the transactions in the surrogacy market, Government intervention in the market for surrogacy was, indeed, required since, at the moment, the only guidelines available are those of the Indian Council of Medical Research. Further, surrogacy will be permitted only to Indian citizens residing in India Non Resident Indians and persons holding Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cards have been excluded. Only altruistic surrogacy will be permitted where the surrogate mother is a “close relative” of the intending parents. The Ministry of Health in India has recently announced that the Government of India proposes to ban surrogacy for commercial purposes.

Amrita pande surrogacy