Private life insurance company Aegon Life has rolled out a life insurance cover meant to protect surrogate mothers and egg donors, which provides a life cover for a period of three years for surrogate mothers and one year for egg donors.
In case of a surrogate mother’s death due to life-threatening complications during pregnancy and post partum, her nominees will be entitled to the sum assured under the policy. Premiums will have to be borne by the couples intending to walk down this path.
Aegon Life will offer this coverage in the form of group plan through Assisted Reproductive Technology, or ART-registered fertility and surrogate clinics, and not directly to couples who initiated the process or surrogate mothers.
The launch comes after the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) in May nudged insurers to provide such covers in line with Surrogacy Act, 2012, Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules, 2022 and Assisted Reproductive Technology Act, 2021.
As per these Acts and rules, couples intending to take the surrogacy route will have to purchase a health insurance policy in favour of the surrogate mother. They will also have to bear the premium cost.
The coverage will continue for 36 months and ought to be sufficient to cover “all expenses for all complications arising out of pregnancy and also covering postpartum delivery complications,” IRDAI had said.
Life as well as health insurance companies have been directed to offer this coverage, the premium for which will be borne by the couples planning to walk down this path. While general and health insurance companies offer maternity covers, the benefit is restricted to biological mothers, necessitating the need for dedicated insurance policies to protect the interests of surrogate mothers.
Several couples, particularly celebrities, have taken this route, boosting the acceptability of surrogacy in the country. However, the surrogacy rules framed in 2018 banned commercial surrogacy, instead allowing the process only by close relatives for "altruistic" reasons.