In India, Mumbai is the best city for getting infertility treatments, and one of them is surrogacy infertility treatment. Nimaaya Women’s Centre for Health & IVF Centre offers the best surrogacy in Mumbai, India.
If you’re exploring surrogacy in Mumbai, the most important thing to understand first isn’t the cost — it’s that surrogacy in India today looks very different from what it did a decade ago. Since the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, came into force, only altruistic surrogacy is legal in India. This guide walks through what that means in practice, who qualifies, how the process works, and what to expect at each stage.
What Is Surrogacy?
Surrogacy is a fertility treatment in which a woman (the surrogate) carries and delivers a baby on behalf of an intended couple who cannot carry a pregnancy themselves. Nearly all surrogacy performed in India today is gestational surrogacy: an embryo is created in the lab using IVF/ICSI from the intended parents’ (or, in medically certified cases, donors’) gametes and transferred into the surrogate’s uterus. The surrogate has no genetic connection to the child genetically; the baby is the intended parents’.
Is Surrogacy Legal in India? What Changed in 2021
Yes, surrogacy is legal in India, but it is now tightly regulated under two laws that came into force on 25 January 2022:
- The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021
- The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021
The single biggest change: commercial surrogacy — paying a surrogate mother beyond her medical expenses — is now a criminal offence, punishable by imprisonment. Only altruistic surrogacy is permitted, meaning:
- The surrogate receives no financial compensation for carrying the pregnancy — only reimbursement of medical expenses and a mandated insurance policy (coverage required for a defined period after delivery)
- The surrogate must, under current rules, be a close relative of the intended couple
- The arrangement requires District Medical Board certification of medical necessity and an Essentiality Certificate before treatment can begin
- Treatment can only take place at a clinic registered under the ART (Regulation) Act. Nimaaya Centre for Health and IVF Centre are ART/Surrogacy Board registered and follows strict guidelines issued by the government for surrogacy.
Who Is Eligible for Surrogacy in India?
Intended parents generally must:
- Be a legally married Indian heterosexual (Not having a uterus) couple (citizenship requirement — NRIs/OCIs and foreign nationals face restrictions; confirm current status before advising international patients)
- Have been married for a minimum of 5 years
- Fall within defined age brackets (wife 23–50, husband 26–55 )
- Major uterine complications, such as extensive scarring (Asherman’s Syndrome) or a consistent failure to achieve a sufficiently thick or receptive endometrial lining
- Severe medical comorbidities that pose a life-threatening danger to the mother (for instance, chronic hypertension).
- Recurrent pregnancy loss
- Have a medical certification of infertility or a proven medical reason they cannot carry a pregnancy (not carrying by choice does not qualify)
- Not have an existing child (biological, adopted, or via earlier surrogacy) — with narrow medical exceptions
Single women may be eligible only if they are widowed or divorced, within a defined age bracket (commonly cited as 35–45).
Not currently eligible under the law: unmarried couples, live-in partners, single men, same-sex couples, and (with limited exceptions) foreign nationals.
The surrogate mother must typically:
- Be a close relative of the intended couple
- Be a married woman with at least one biological child of her own
- Fall within a defined age range (commonly cited as 25–35)
- Act as a surrogate only once in her lifetime
- Not obese (fatty or overweight)
- Have to be in a safe living background
- Pass a medical and psychological evaluation and be certified fit
Surrogacy Laws in India: What Intended Parents in Mumbai Need to Know
Surrogacy in India is governed by the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, along with its 2024 amendment. It’s important for intended parents to understand this framework clearly before starting the process:
- Only altruistic surrogacy is legal. Commercial surrogacy — any payment to the surrogate beyond her medical expenses and insurance — is banned and criminally punishable. There is no “fee” involved in a legal surrogacy arrangement in India.
- Who can be an intended parent? Surrogacy is available to legally married Indian couples with a certified medical need (e.g., absence of a uterus, recurrent IVF failure, or a condition that makes pregnancy medically unsafe), as well as to eligible Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) and, under specific conditions, single women who are widowed or divorced (aged 35–45). Foreign nationals, live-in couples, and single men are not eligible.
- Who can be a surrogate. A willing, married woman aged 25–35 with a biological child of her own, medically and psychologically evaluated and certified fit, who can act as a surrogate only once in her lifetime.
- Mandatory approvals. Before treatment can begin, the case must be certified by a District Medical Board and cleared with an Essentiality Certificate from the Appropriate Authority. The surrogate must also be covered by 36 months of insurance, including postpartum complications.
- Legal parentage. Once these approvals and agreements are in place, the child is recognised in law as the biological and legal child of the intended parents, with a parentage order issued after birth.
At Nimaaya, our clinical team works alongside the required legal and regulatory processes so intended parents have a clear, compliant path from consultation through to delivery — with no surprises about what is (and isn’t) permitted under Indian law.
How the Surrogacy Process Works, Step by Step
- Initial consultation & medical evaluation
fertility assessment of the intended parents to establish and document medical necessity - District Medical Board certification & Essentiality Certificate — the legal prerequisite before any treatment step
- Surrogate screening — medical, psychological, and eligibility screening of the relative acting as surrogate
- IVF/ICSI cycle — eggs and sperm from the intended couple (or medically certified donor gametes, where permitted) are used to create embryos in the lab
- Cycle synchronization — the surrogate’s cycle is medically prepared to receive the embryo
- Embryo transfer — typically a frozen embryo transfer (FET) once the surrogate’s uterine lining is ready
- Pregnancy confirmation — blood test roughly 10–14 days after transfer
- Antenatal care — regular monitoring throughout the pregnancy, coordinated between the surrogate’s own physicians and the fertility centre
- Delivery and parentage — a court-backed parentage order establishes the intended parents as the child’s legal parents from birth
How Long Does It Take?
A single IVF/embryo-preparation cycle typically takes 4–6 weeks, though the full journey, from board certification through embryo transfer to delivery, realistically spans 12–18+ months once legal, medical, and screening steps are included. Timelines vary significantly by case.
What Does Surrogacy Cost in Mumbai?
Because commercial payment to a surrogate is no longer legal, the cost structure has shifted: fees now centre on the medical treatment (IVF/ICSI, embryo transfer, and monitoring); the surrogate’s medical expenses and mandated insurance; legal and documentation costs; and antenatal/delivery care, not a payment to the surrogate herself.
The surrogacy cost in Mumbai, India, typically ranges from ₹15 lakh to ₹25 lakh based on individual patient requirements and treatment complexity, with the success rate of Nimaaya is around 85%.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is commercial surrogacy legal in India?
No. Since the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, commercial surrogacy is banned and criminally punishable. Only altruistic surrogacy, where the surrogate receives no payment beyond medical expenses and insurance, is legal.
Can a friend or a stranger be a surrogate in India?
Under current rules, the surrogate must be a close relative of the intended couple, not an unrelated or agency-sourced surrogate.
Can NRIs or foreign nationals pursue surrogacy in India?
Eligibility for NRIs, OCIs, and foreign nationals has changed multiple times since 2021 and is subject to court rulings.
Is the child legally recognised as the intended parents’ child?
Yes. Under the Act, the child is legally the biological and legal child of the intended parents from birth, established via a court-backed parentage order.
How much does surrogacy cost in Mumbai?
Costs vary by case and depend on the number of IVF cycles needed, medical complexity, and legal/documentation requirements. Nimaaya offers personalised consultations to provide an accurate estimate for your situation.
Why Choose Nimaaya IVF for Surrogacy in Mumbai
- Dr. Pooja completed her MBBS from B J Medical College, Ahmedabad, in 2003 and went on to earn her MD in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 2006, with 25+ years of experience in infertility treatment cases, and handled successful IVF treatments. 25,000+ babies born through IVF under her care.
- Nimaaya Women’s Center for Health is actively operating in Surat, Vadodara, and Ahmedabad
- Recently, Sambhavna Seth & Avinash welcomed their twins at Nimaaya IVF Centre, Surat!
When it comes to surrogacy, Nimaaya IVF Hospital closely complies with ICMR regulations.
Experienced, specialised care. Surrogacy involves more moving parts than a standard IVF cycle — embryo transfer, surrogate screening, legal documentation, and antenatal monitoring all need to work together under one team. At Nimaaya, Dr. Pooja Nadkarni Singh is a FICOG — Fellow of the Indian College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists. Member of – FOGSI (Federation of Obstetrics & Gynaecological Societies of India) · IMA and has notable achievements – Delivered 13 IVF babies on 12/12/2012 · Known as the “Marathon Doctor” & Best IVF Doctor. 25,000+ IVF babies were delivered under her expertise; she leads the surrogacy programme with a treatment approach built around medical precision and full transparency at every stage.
Everything under one roof. From the initial fertility work-up and IVF cycle through embryo transfer and the surrogate’s antenatal care, the process is coordinated at a single Nimaaya centre — reducing the back-and-forth between labs, hospitals, and legal offices that often adds stress (and time) to a surrogacy journey.
Transparent, structured costs. Surrogacy in India today covers medical treatment (IVF/ICSI cycles, embryo transfer, monitoring), the surrogate’s medical expenses and mandatory insurance, and legal/documentation costs — there is no fee paid to the surrogate herself, as commercial surrogacy is prohibited by law. Nimaaya offers EMI options to help intended parents manage these medical and legal costs, with a clear cost breakdown provided before treatment begins.
Support throughout. Intended parents get dedicated counselling and case coordination through every legal and medical milestone, from the initial medical board approval through to the parentage order after birth.
For couples looking for compassionate and advanced surrogacy support in Surat, Vadodara, and Ahmedabad, Nimaaya IVF Center provides personalised fertility guidance with experienced specialists, ethical medical care, and comprehensive reproductive support. We are dedicated to helping intended parents navigate their journey toward building a family with confidence and expert care.
