Third-Party Reproduction in India: A Guide for Intended Parents

Summary: Third-Party Reproduction in India

India is now the world’s most populous country, and accordingly has a high number of IVF clinics. As of January 2025, 2,650 assisted reproductive technology (ART) clinics were registered on the National ART and Surrogacy Registry (1). India has world-class doctors and medical facilities, but the quality of ART and success rates vary widely by clinic. Some clinics are reputable and highly performing, while others are poor quality. The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 (the “ART Act”) and the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 (the “Surrogacy Act”), both of which came into force on 25 January 2022, were enacted to establish stricter regulations, standardise quality, and prevent the exploitation of donors, surrogates, and children born through ART (2, 3).

India was historically a major medical tourism destination for IVF, egg donation, and surrogacy, but the two 2021 Acts placed new restrictions on both. Surrogacy has been closed to foreign nationals since November 2015 (4). Donor egg and donor sperm IVF is governed by the ART Act, which regulates clinics and banks rather than the citizenship of recipients; in practice, Indian citizens, NRIs, OCI cardholders, and foreign nationals on Medical Visas can all access donor-gamete IVF at registered Indian clinics, though documentation and visa requirements vary and intended parents should consult with a lawyer before seeking treatment (2). Donor identities are kept confidential and the Act does not provide a statutory right for donor-conceived children to obtain information about their donor (6).

A February 2024 amendment to the Surrogacy Rules allows the use of one donor gamete (egg or sperm, but not both) in gestational surrogacy where a District Medical Board certifies that one member of the intending couple has a medical condition necessitating it; a single woman (widow or divorcee) undergoing surrogacy must use her own eggs with donor sperm (7). Whether NRIs and OCI cardholders can in practice commission surrogacy in India is legally contested. Anyone planning treatment in India, particularly NRI, OCI cardholder, or foreign nationals, should engage an experienced Indian fertility lawyer before committing to a clinic or treatment plan.

Is Egg Donation Legal in India?

The ART Act of 2021 allows egg donation, sperm donation, embryo donation, and surrogacy in India, with certain regulations and conditions. All ART clinics and ART banks (which collect, screen, store, and supply gametes) must be registered on the National Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Registry (NARTSR), maintained by the Department of Health Research under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and must meet the standards prescribed under the Act and the ART (Regulation) Rules, 2022 (2, 9).

The ART Act permits egg, sperm, and embryo donation, as well as surrogacy, under regulations described below. Egg donors must be ever-married women aged 23 to 35 with at least one living child of their own who is at least three years old; sperm donors must be men aged 21 to 55. Each donor may donate to only one commissioning party in their lifetime, and an oocyte donor may donate only once, with a maximum of seven eggs retrieved. Directed or “known” donation by a relative or friend is not permitted: gametes must come through a registered ART bank, which is the legally responsible source. Donor information is confidential, and the Act does not provide donor-conceived children with a statutory right to access non-identifying or identifying information about their donor. Clinics and banks must keep records of donations for at least ten years before transferring them to the National Registry, and any donor gamete or embryo may be stored for a maximum of ten years.

In India, there are multiple professional societies that establish guidelines for members but do not have regulatory powers over ART. These include the Indian Society for Assisted Reproduction, the Indian Society of Reproductive Medicine, and the Indian Fertility Society. Regulatory power vests in the National Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Board (NARTSB), the State Boards, and the appropriate authorities appointed under the ART Act and the Surrogacy Act (2, 3).

Availability of Donor Eggs, Sperm and Embryos in India

Donor eggs and sperm are widely available in India, facilitated by a comprehensive network of ART clinics and sperm banks across the country. These facilities are regulated under the ART (Regulation) Act, 2021, which requires them to adhere to strict standards and guidelines. Many clinics operate through associated ART banks, which provide a streamlined process for patients seeking fertility treatments. However, the ART Act requires that ART banks be registered as independent entities, separate from clinics, so that the bank rather than the clinic is the legally responsible source of donor gametes (2). Additionally, there are independent sperm and egg banks that work in collaboration with various clinics to supply donor gametes. While there are no specific government-run egg or sperm banks, the regulatory framework established by the government ensures oversight and quality control across all facilities.

All ART clinics and banks must be separately registered on the National ART and Surrogacy Registry (NARTSR), and registration is valid for five years before requiring renewal (2, 9). The Registry helps maintain accountability and provides a central database of clinics, banks, and reported outcomes (1, 9).

Conditions for Egg Donors in India:

• Age: Egg donors must be between 23 and 35 years old (2).

• Marital and parental status: Per the ART Rules, an egg donor must be an ever-married woman with at least one living child of her own who is a minimum of three years old (10).

• One-time donation: An oocyte donor may donate only once in her lifetime, with a maximum of seven oocytes retrieved per cycle (2).

• Health: Donors must be in good health, both physically and mentally, and undergo thorough medical and psychological screening for the diseases prescribed in the ART Rules (10).

• Consent: Written informed consent of all parties is mandatory, ensuring donors understand the procedures, risks, and implications involved in egg donation (2).

• Insurance: The commissioning couple or woman must purchase insurance for the oocyte donor for a period of twelve months covering specified losses, complications, or death (2).

• Anonymity: The identity of egg donors is kept strictly confidential, and donors must give a written undertaking acknowledging this confidentiality, and they relinquish all parental rights and cannot have any parental rights over the resulting child (2).

Conditions for Sperm Donors in India:

• Age: Sperm donors must be between 21 and 55 years old (2).

• Health: Donors must be healthy and free from any genetic, hereditary, or sexually transmitted diseases. They undergo comprehensive medical screening as prescribed under the ART Rules (10).

• Consent: Informed consent is required, with donors fully aware of the donation process and its implications.

• Anonymity: Sperm donors’ identities are kept confidential under Section 21(e), similar to egg donors, with no parental rights over the resulting child.

• Single-recipient rule: A bank may not supply the sperm of a single donor to more than one commissioning couple (2).

Conditions for Intended Parents for IVF using donor gametes:

• Marital Status: IVF using donor eggs or sperm can be accessed by married couples and by single women aged 21 or older (2). Single men, unmarried couples, and same-sex couples are not envisioned within the Act’s definitions and, in practice, do not have legal access to donor-gamete ART in India (5).

• Age: The age of the woman intending to undergo ART should generally be above 21 years and below 50 years, and the man should be above 21 years and below 55 years (2). (The 23–50 and 26–55 ranges in the original page apply specifically to the intending couple in surrogacy, not to ordinary IVF.)

• Medical Indications: ART procedures should be based on medical indications, such as infertility that necessitate the use of donor gametes, though infertility under the Act is broadly defined as the inability to conceive after one year of unprotected coitus or other proven medical condition (Section 2(j)) (2).

• Legal and Ethical Compliance: Intended parents must comply with all legal and ethical guidelines, including providing necessary documentation and undergoing counseling sessions (2).

Embryo donation is not separately defined in the ART Act, but in practice unused embryos may be donated to other patients only through registered ART banks under the consent and record-keeping provisions of the Act, which are responsible for screening donors and ensuring that all legal and medical requirements are met (2).

Egg Donor Reimbursement in India

In India, compensation for egg and sperm donors is strictly regulated to prevent commercialization. Section 33(1)(b) of the ART Act makes it a punishable offence to sell, purchase, or trade human embryos or gametes or run an agency for such trade, and Section 33(1)(g) bans the use of intermediaries to obtain or purchase gamete donors (2). The use of “intermediates” to procure donors is a criminal offence with imprisonment of three to eight years and substantial fines on repeat conviction. In practice, donors receive reimbursement for documented expenses incurred during the donation process, such as travel, lost wages, and medical costs, but the Act’s framework treats donation as altruistic rather than compensated. A separate mandatory insurance arrangement (twelve months’ coverage for the oocyte donor, purchased by the commissioning party) is required by Section 22(1)(b) (2).

The compensation framework is enforced through the inspection, record-keeping, and offences provisions of the Act, and clinics and banks must maintain detailed records subject to inspection by the National Board, the National Registry, and State Boards (2). In practice, however, observers have noted that ICMR-era pre-Act compensation norms persist informally at many clinics, and enforcement of the Act’s anti-commercialisation provisions has been uneven (12).

Anonymous, Open, and Known Donation in India

In India, the ART Act establishes a single, statutorily anonymous framework for egg and sperm donation. Under this system, the identity of the donor is kept confidential by the bank holding the gametes (2), and recipients are only given non-identifying information such as the donor’s age, physical characteristics, and health history. This method complies with the confidentiality and information-handling provisions of the ART Act and Rules (2, 10).

The concept of open donation is not legally recognised in India. The Act does not provide for a system of donor identity release, and there is no statutory right for donor-conceived children to obtain non-identifying or identifying information about their donor on reaching adulthood — a divergence from the trend in many other jurisdictions (6). Donor information stored at clinics and banks is to be transferred to the National Registry after ten years (2).

Known or directed donation, where the donor is a relative or friend of the recipient, is not permitted under the Act. Gametes must be supplied by a registered ART bank rather than by an identified individual chosen by the patient, and the use of intermediaries to obtain gamete donors is itself a criminal offence (2, 13). This rule applies regardless of the citizenship of the intending parents.

Import and Export of Gametes and Embryos

Whether reproductive cells and embryos can cross India’s borders depends on three separate questions: who created them, whose genetic material they contain, and where they are going. The picture below summarises the law as written and what appears to happen in practice; intended parents should obtain qualified legal and medical advice in India before relying on any cross-border plan.

Import of gametes or embryos into India

Import of donor sperm, donor eggs, and embryos created from donor gametes is, in practice, not possible. Section 33(1)(c) of the ART Act makes it a criminal offence for any medical geneticist, gynaecologist, registered medical practitioner, or any other person to “import or help in getting imported in whatsoever manner, the human embryos or human gametes” (2). The Surrogacy Act repeats this prohibition in Section 38(1)(f) specifically for surrogacy (3). Penalties on repeat conviction include imprisonment of three to eight years and fines up to twenty lakh rupees (2). The Act draws no distinction between import for personal use and import for commercial use of donor material: both are barred.

The only opening is Section 29 of the ART Act, which makes an exception for own gametes and embryos, meaning created from the intended parent’s own genetic material. Permission must be obtained from the National Board before the transfer takes place.

Export of own gametes or embryos

Export of a patient’s own gametes or own-genetic-material embryos for personal use is possible under Rule 19 of the ART (Regulation) Rules (14, 15). Rule 19 provides that any person intending to transfer their own gametes or embryos for personal use within or outside India must apply to or furnish a declaration before the National Board, and must obtain its prior permission, using Forms 16 through 24 as applicable (14, 15). The forms require sworn affidavits from both the clinic holding the gametes or embryos and the clinic that will receive them, identifying the intended use and confirming that the transfer is not in contravention of the ART Act (15).

If you cannot access surrogacy or donor-IVF in India (because of foreign citizenship, sexual orientation, or NRI/OCI legal uncertainty) the ART Rules (introduced 24 February 2023) allows you to apply to the National Board for permission to transfer your own gametes or embryos abroad for personal reproductive use. This is the route most often used to pursue surrogacy in a permitted jurisdiction (commonly the USA). The process is paperwork-heavy and is not designed for quick turnaround; intended parents should expect several months between filing and the National Board’s grant of permission, and should coordinate with both the Indian sending clinic and the foreign receiving clinic well in advance.

Export of embryos created with donor eggs or donor sperm

This is the scenario most relevant to international intended parents, and it requires specialized legal advice. Whether the National Board will permit export is unsettled. Intended parents who wish to ship donor-conceived embryos out of India should obtain Indian legal advice on whether a National Board permission can be obtained on the facts of their case.

Surrogacy in India

As per the Surrogacy Act, only an Indian couple who has been married for at least five years and have a medical indication necessitating gestational surrogacy may opt for surrogacy (3, 11). The law defines a couple as a “legally married Indian man and woman above the age of 21 years and 18 years respectively” (Section 2(h)) (3) and prescribes an age criterion with the woman being between 23 and 50 years and the man between 26 and 55 years on the day of certification (3). The couple should not have a surviving child biologically, through adoption, or through earlier surrogacy, with limited exceptions for a child with severe disability, a life-threatening disorder, or a fatal illness (3). Single women are only eligible for surrogacy if they are an “intending woman” — an Indian widow or divorcee between 35 and 45 years of age (3). Unmarried single women are not eligible (8), and a challenge to this exclusion is pending before the Supreme Court of India (5). Single men are not eligible (8).

Foreign nationals have been barred from commissioning surrogacy in India since the Ministry of Home Affairs Circular of 3 November 2015 (4), and the Surrogacy Act’s definition of “couple” as a “legally married Indian man and woman” (Section 2(h)) codifies this exclusion (3). The position of NRIs and OCI cardholders is contested. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s FAQ on the Surrogacy Act states that NRIs, OCI cardholders, and Indian-origin citizens may avail surrogacy services subject to a certificate of recommendation from the National Board (8). However, the 2015 MHA Circular barring FRRO/FRO permission for OCI cardholders has not been formally withdrawn, and a leading 2025 International Bar Association analysis describes NRIs and OCIs as “explicitly excluded” in practice (4, 5). Anyone in this category should engage an experienced Indian fertility lawyer before committing to a clinic or treatment plan.

 Conditions for couples seeking to engage a surrogate in India:

• Citizenship: Foreign nationals are excluded. NRIs and OCI cardholders are in a contested position (see preceding paragraph) and should obtain Indian legal advice before relying on any clinic’s assurance.

• The intending couple are married and between the age of 23 to 50 years in case of female and between 26 to 55 years in case of male on the day of certification (3).

• Intended parents must be legally married for at least five years if opting for surrogacy (11).

• The intending couple have not had any surviving child biologically or through adoption or through surrogacy earlier, except where the existing child has a serious disability, life-threatening disorder, or fatal illness certified by a District Medical Board (3).

• Has a medical indication necessitating surrogacy and has a certificate of essentiality from the District Medical Board, together with a parentage and custody order from a court of the Magistrate of the first class or above and an insurance arrangement of 36 months covering postpartum complications in favour of the surrogate (3).

• Per the Surrogacy (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2024 (notified on 21 February 2024), surrogacy may use one donor gamete (egg or sperm) where the District Medical Board certifies that one member of the intending couple has a medical condition necessitating it; at least one gamete must come from the intending couple themselves, and single women (widows or divorcees) must use their own eggs together with donor sperm (7). Donor gametes used in surrogacy must come from a registered Indian ART bank, since import of gametes or embryos for surrogacy is prohibited under the Surrogacy Act (3).

• Single eligible women: As above, only an Indian widow or divorcee between 35 and 45 years of age may commission surrogacy as an Indian widow or divorcee aged 35–45, and she must use her own eggs with donor sperm (3, 7).

Conditions may vary, so legal advice and working with a reputable registered clinic are essential. The law ensures informed consent, mandates legal agreements, and safeguards the surrogate’s and child’s rights, stipulating that the surrogate has no parental rights over the child after birth, and that the child is deemed the biological child of the intending couple with all the rights of a natural child (3).

Conditions for surrogates:

• Marital Status: Surrogates must be ever-married women with at least one child of their own (3).

• Age: Surrogates should be between the ages of 25 and 35 on the day of implantation (3).

• Previous Births: Surrogates must have at least one healthy child of their own.

• Number of Surrogacies: A woman can be a surrogate only once in her lifetime, with no more than three embryo-transfer attempts in that one surrogacy (3, 11).

• Medical Fitness: Surrogates must undergo a comprehensive medical and psychological screening to ensure they are fit for surrogacy.

• Consent: Informed consent is required, ensuring that surrogates fully understand the medical, legal, and psychological implications of surrogacy.

• Residency: Surrogates must be Indian citizens.

• Relationship to Intended Parents: Surrogates must be a “willing woman”; the Act as enacted in 2021 dropped the earlier draft requirement that the surrogate be a “close relative” of the intending couple, following the Rajya Sabha Select Committee’s recommendation (3, 16). In practice, however, many clinics continue to require or prefer a family-known surrogate, and the surrogate must in any case not provide her own gametes (3).

• Compensation: Only altruistic surrogacy is allowed, where the surrogate mother receives no monetary compensation beyond medical expenses and insurance coverage, other prescribed expenses, and 36 months of insurance coverage (3).

• Legal Agreement: A legal surrogacy agreement must be combined with court-issued parentage and custody orders before the start of treatment (3), detailing all rights and responsibilities.

• Post-Birth Custody: The surrogate has no parental rights over the child after birth, and the child is legally the offspring of the intended parents (3).

• Surveillance and Reporting: Surrogacy arrangements must be monitored and reported to the National ART and Surrogacy Registry, the National Board, the State Board, and the appropriate authority to ensure compliance with the law (3).

Can LGBTQIA+ Couples Use IVF in India?

As of the latest regulations, LGBTQIA+ couples in India do not have legal access to surrogacy and have limited access to ART using donor gametes. The Surrogacy Act defines the only eligible couple as a “legally married Indian man and woman” (Section 2(h)), and the only eligible single woman as an Indian widow or divorcee between 35 and 45 years of age, effectively excluding LGBTQIA+ couples from surrogacy (3). The ART Act’s definitions of “commissioning couple” and “woman” (Section 2(u)) refer respectively to a married couple and to any woman over 21, and the Act does not expressly contemplate same-sex couples (2).

On 17 October 2023, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India unanimously declined to recognise same-sex marriage under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, and by a 3:2 majority declined to recognise same-sex civil unions or joint adoption rights for same-sex couples (17, 18). The Court noted that the question of recognition is for Parliament to decide, and accepted the Union Government’s offer to constitute a committee to examine rights and benefits that could be extended to queer couples (17). Because eligibility for surrogacy and donor-gamete ART under the 2021 Acts is built around the concept of a “legally married Indian man and woman,” LGBTQIA+ couples in India face significant legal barriers to surrogacy in particular, and most clinics will not offer donor-gamete IVF outside of those defined categories (3, 5). Intended parents in this category may wish to consider the USA or Canada.

Can Single Women and Men Use IVF in India?

In India, it is legal for single women over the age of 21 to undergo in vitro fertilization (IVF) using donor sperm, allowing them to pursue parenthood independently. The ART Act defines “woman” as any woman above the age of 21 who approaches a registered ART clinic or bank for authorised services (Section 2(u)) and does not require her to be married (2). Single women are also permitted to freeze their eggs for future use, providing them with the option to delay childbearing while preserving their fertility. However, the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act of 2021 restricts surrogacy to married couples and to Indian widows or divorcees between 35 and 45 years of age, and unmarried single women are not eligible to commission surrogacy. The Delhi High Court and Supreme Court have entertained challenges to this exclusion brought by unmarried women, but no remedy has yet been granted (5, 19).

For single men, the landscape is more restrictive. The Surrogacy Act’s definitions provide no pathway for a single man to commission surrogacy, and the Ministry of Health’s FAQ confirms that “a single man cannot avail surrogacy in India” (8). The ART Act’s definitions of “commissioning couple” and “woman” also do not contemplate a single man as a recipient, and donor-egg IVF for a single man (which would in practice require a surrogate) is therefore unavailable.

How to Choose an IVF Clinic in India

In India, the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 mandates the licensing, certification, and inspection of ART clinics and banks. These responsibilities are carried out by the National Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Board (NARTSB), the State Boards, and appropriate authorities appointed under both the ART Act and the Surrogacy Act (2, 3). Every ART clinic and ART bank must register on the National ART and Surrogacy Registry (NARTSR) before operating, and registration must be renewed every five years (2, 9). See our section on choosing a clinic for more information.

Patients should look for the following certifications and accreditations:

•       Registration with the National ART and Surrogacy Registry (NARTSR), which is the central database under the Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (9): This ensures that the clinic complies with national ART standards.

•       Accreditation from the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH): This is a voluntary quality-assurance accreditation and is not mandatory, but it indicates the clinic’s commitment to quality and safety in healthcare services.

•       Membership in Reputable Professional Societies: Clinics and doctors should be associated with reputable professional organizations such as:

◦       The Indian Society for Assisted Reproduction (ISAR)

◦       The Indian Society of Reproductive Medicine (ISRM)

◦       The Indian Fertility Society and the Indian Association of Clinical Embryologists (IACE)

The monitoring and reporting of clinic activity is overseen by the NARTSB. Clinics are required to maintain accurate records of their procedures and outcomes and to submit information periodically to the National Registry (2). At the time of writing, however, comprehensive comparative success-rate reports are not published in the manner of, for example, the United Kingdom’s HFEA or the United States’ SART. Patients should ask clinics directly for their fresh and frozen embryo transfer live-birth rates per cycle started, by age band, and should treat advertised “success rates” with caution.

Average Costs of IVF with Donor Eggs or Sperm in India

The average cost of one cycle of IVF in India typically ranges from INR 1,00,000 to INR 3,00,000 (approximately US$1,200 to US$3,600 at recent exchange rates) (20, 21) depending on various factors such as the clinic’s location, the patient’s age, and the specific treatments required. Additional costs may include medications, tests, and hospital charges.

Egg donation typically adds a further INR 1,00,000 to INR 2,50,000 (approximately US$1,200 to US$3,000) to the IVF cycle cost (21, 22). This cost covers the donor’s reimbursed expenses, the mandatory twelve-month insurance coverage for the donor under Section 22(1)(b) of the ART Act, medical tests, and the retrieval procedure. Sperm donation is generally less expensive, with costs ranging from INR 20,000 to INR 50,000 (approximately US$240 to US$600) per donation cycle (20, 21).

Surrogacy in India may cost around INR 10,00,000 to INR 25,00,000 (approximately US$12,000 to US$30,000) inclusive of medical and legal fees, surrogate medical expenses, mandatory 36-month surrogate insurance, and clinic charges, although these figures are reported by clinics rather than by an official survey (20, 23), but this should be confirmed with your agency or clinic. Bear in mind that, because commercial surrogacy is a criminal offence, no portion of these fees represents lawful payment to the surrogate beyond medical expenses, reimbursable expenses, and insurance (3).