Recently, the High Court of Delhi has asked the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to explain and reply to a woman’s petition questioning the policy that prohibits women who are unmarried from undertaking surrogacy.
A single, unmarried woman’s petition against the amendments made in Rule 7 in the Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules, 2022 was heard by a division panel comprised of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma along with Justice Sanjeev Narula.
The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 defines an “intending woman” as an Indian woman who has the status of either a “widow” or a “divorcee”. The High Court of Delhi placed questions before the Centre on Monday about its policy that only allows widows or divorcees to undertake surrogacy and prohibits unmarried women from doing so.
A panel headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma questioned the logic behind determining a woman’s eligibility for the surrogacy based on her marital status.
The woman aged 44 years has made claims that requirement under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act’s section 2 (1)(zg) which states that a surrogate mother be related to the “intending woman genetically” is entirely illogical as well as capricious.
The woman who filed the petition in the high court stated that she was living with her father and had never been married. According to the petitioner’s attorney, her family preferred surrogacy over adoption and was unwilling to choose the latter.
The limits placed on a single woman who is unmarried, according to the petition, are extremely unreasonable, unlawful, biased and in violation of the petitioner’s fundamental rights i.e., right to equality under Article 14 and right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The law which restricts the age criteria of any “intending woman” to between 35 and 45 years to benefit from surrogacy was also objected in the petition. After a week, the case would be heard again.
Written by: Divyani Newar,College name: NEF Law College,5th Semester, 3 Year LL.B.,An intern under Legal Vidhiya
Reference:
- https://www.indiatoday.in/law/story/delhi-high-court-centre-marital-status-criteria-for-women-surrogacy-law-2449927-2023-10-17
- https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/why-restrict-single-women-from-surrogacy-delhi-hc-asks-centre-101697461733841.html
- https://www.firstpost.com/india/delhi-hc-asks-center-to-explain-expulsion-of-single-unmarried-women-from-surrogacy-law-13255962.html
- https://www.barandbench.com/news/why-discriminate-delhi-high-court-single-unmarried-women-surrogacy
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