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Surrogacy & Hinduism

Different religions take different approaches to surrogacy, often related to their stances on assisted reproductive technology in general.

As India and other countries with large Hindu populations with surrogacy getting common and less stigmatized as celebrities openly opted for surrogacy, numerous questions have been raised regarding whether or not surrogacy conflicts with the Hindu religion.

While Hindu scholars have not debated the issue extensively, T. C. Anand Kumar, an Indian reproductive biologist, argues that there is no conflict between Hinduism and assisted reproduction. Others have supported this stance with reference to Hindu mythology, including a story in the Bhagavata Purana which suggests the practice of gestational carrier-hood: Kan(sh) the wicked king of Mathura, had imprisoned his sister Devaki and her husband Vasudeva because oracles had informed him that her child would be his killer. Every time she delivered a child, he smashed its head on the floor. He killed six children. When the seventh child was conceived, the gods intervened. They summoned the goddess Yogamaya and had her transfer the fetus from the womb of Devaki to the womb of Rohini (Vasudeva’s other wife who lived with her sister Yashoda across the river Yamuna, in the village of cowherds at Gokul). Thus the child conceived in one womb was incubated in and delivered through another womb.

Additionally, infertility is often associated with Karma in the Hindu tradition; this has led to general acceptance of medical intervention for addressing infertility amongst Hindus. As such, surrogacy and other scientific methods of assisted reproduction are generally supported within the Hindus community.