The government today told the Supreme court that foreigners cannot rent a womb in India. It said in an affidavit filed before the apex court that surrogacy services would only be available for Indian couples.<br/><br/>The government told the court that it has decided to prohibit the import of human embryo for the purpose of commercial surrogacy for foreigners.<br/><br/>Recently, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has decided to withdraw its 2013 notification allowing free import of human embryo to India for artificial reproduction.<br/>Import of embryos for research would, however, not be banned, the Centre clarified.<br/><br/>A bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi took exception to the fact that the government's stand on commercial surrogacy was published in an english newspaper before being filed in the apex court.<br/><br/>Earlier, the court had expressed concerns over "trading of human embryo" and directed the government to re-examine the policy to allow import of human embryo while asking it to bring commercial surrogacy within the ambit of law.<br/><br/>The court was hearing a PIL filed by advocate Jayashree Wad who said the country has virtually become a "baby factory" as a large number of foreign couples have been coming to India in search of surrogate mothers.