India to ban foreign surrogate services

The Indian government has said it plans to ban surrogate services for foreigners wanting babies in a move which will hit a thriving industry.

It says surrogacy would be available “only for Indian couples”.

India is called the “surrogacy hub” of the world, where infertile couples, including many from overseas, hire the wombs of local women to carry their embryos through to birth.

But there have been growing concerns over what is an unregulated business.

This had prompted a petition in the Supreme Court, which last month ordered the government to spell out plans for regulating the industry.