Kerala High Court orders SIT probe into ‘illegal’ surrogacy, egg donation
Kerala High Court surrogacy probe, Surrogacy Regulation Act 2021: Justices Devan Ramachandran and M B Snehalatha were hearing a plea filed by an Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) bank seeking the release of certain persons allegedly detained by the police and the district medical officer.
3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Dec 9, 2025 11:55 AM IST
Kerala High Court surrogacy probe: The Kerala High Court has directed a SIT probe into illegal assisted reproductive technology practices, including unlawful surrogacy and egg donations. This image is generated using AI.
Kerala High Court surrogacy probe: The Kerala High Court recently directed the police authorities to constitute a special investigation team (SIT) to probe into alleged unlawful activities related to illegal surrogacy and egg donations carried out in the state.
A bench of Justices Devan Ramachandran and M B Snehalath directed police authorities to conduct investigation without waiting for the orders from the judicial magistrate.
“A special investigation team should be now constituted so that all aspects can be properly considered,” the bench said on December 5.
The court was hearing a plea was filed by an Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) bank which sought the release of certain persons allegedly detained by the police and the district medical officer.
The bench took a note of a police report, which pointed out that the appropriate authority had filed a complaint before the judicial magistrate first class court in Kalamassery, but no investigation had yet started since the police were awaiting court orders.
The report further flagged various unlawful activities related to illegal surrogacy and egg donation detected during the initial investigation. The report stated that illegal activities like online advertisements offering remuneration; inducing victims for egg donation and surrogacy, etc., were being carried out.
The matter would come up on December 10, when the government is expected to inform the court about the constitution of the SIT.
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The order came after hearing previous arguments of advocate Gikku Jacob, who represented the ART bank apart from the director general of prosecution and public prosecutor who were representing state police and health and family welfare department.
On October 17, the court heard the government pleader Sunil Nath who submitted about the misuse of the ART and its systems and mentioned that the provisions of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021 and that of the ART (Regulation) Act 2021 are required to be permeated into the public domain effectively.
The court said the ART Act should be well publicised along with its most essential provisions displayed in the various clinics, ART Banks, hospitals and surrogacy clinics, for the benefit of not only the patients, but also for those who came seeking such services.
What is ART
An ART bank is an assisted reproductive technology (ART) bank that allows people unable to conceive or achieve pregnancy, for medical and non-medical reasons, to have biological children using the various reproductive technologies.
It is regulated under the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act 2021 (ART Act) which allows only married infertile couples and certain categories of women to avail of ARTs and surrogacy. The Act prohibits the sale of gametes and any payment to the surrogate mother, other than insurance coverage and medical expenses and directs the registration of the clinics and banks offering ART procedures.
Richa Sahay is a Legal Correspondent for The Indian Express, where she focuses on simplifying the complexities of the Indian judicial system. A law postgraduate, she leverages her advanced legal education to bridge the gap between technical court rulings and public understanding, ensuring that readers stay informed about the rapidly evolving legal landscape.
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