Research Paper: Wombs for Rent, Rights for Sale: A Critical Legal Appraisal of Surrogacy in India's Bio-ethical Regime

This paper critically examines the legal, ethical, and socio-political dimensions of surrogacy in India, interrogating the shifting paradigms from commercial to altruistic reproduction under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021. Through a doctrinal and feminist legal analysis, it argues that the current legal framework represents not_x000D_ protection but paternalism-substituting women's autonomy with state-sanctioned morality. The study situates surrogacy within broader debates on reproductive justice, constitutional rights, and the political economy of gendered labor. Drawing upon judicial precedents such as Baby Manji Yamada v. Union of India and Suchita Srivastava v. Chandigarh Administration, it traces how Indian jurisprudence oscillates between affirming autonomy and reinforcing patriarchal control. The research employs a comparative lens, contrasting India's moralistic prohibitions with global models in Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United States, which seek to harmonize_x000D_ ethics with contractual fairness. The findings reveal that India's altruistic-only model criminalizes economic exchange, erases women's agency, and entrenches inequality by confining reproductive rights within hetero-normative and familial boundaries. The_x000D_ paper concludes that a rights-based, participatory framework grounded in constitutional morality and informed consent is essential for reconciling ethics with equity. Ultimately, it calls for the recognition of surrogacy as legitimate reproductive labor deserving of dignity, compensation, and justice, thereby reimagining the Indian_x000D_ surrogacy regime through the lenses of autonomy, accountability, and_x000D_ constitutionalism.