
The Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, have been updated to provide maternity and paternity leave for commissioning parents who opt for surrogacy. This revision marks a significant change to the 50-year-old regulation, extending childcare leave to commissioning mothers with less than two surviving children. Additionally, commissioning fathers are now eligible for paternity leave under the amended rules.
Surrogacy is an arrangement in which a woman (the surrogate) agrees to carry and give birth to a child on behalf of another person or couple (the intended parent/s).

According to the amended rules, in the case of surrogacy, the surrogate, as well as the commissioning mother with less than two surviving children, may be granted maternity leave of 180 days, if either or both of them are government servants. The commissioning father, who is a male government servant with less than two surviving children, may be granted paternity leave of 15 days within six months from the child’s delivery date.
Furthermore, the Central Civil Services (Leave) (Amendment) Rules, 2024, state that commissioning mothers with fewer than two surviving children may also avail child care leave.
Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules of 2022
In addition to the amendments made to the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, the Centre has also revised the Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules of 2022. These rules now permit married couples to use donor eggs or sperm when one partner faces a medical condition.
According to the amended Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules of 2022, it is mandated that the District Medical Board must confirm the presence of a medical condition in either the husband or wife, which requires the use of a donor gamete.