New Delhi:
The Delhi High Court on Friday sought a response from the Centre due to a petition opposing several provisions of the Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 and the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021.
“The limitations imposed on who can be a surrogate mother in terms of Section 2 (zg) read with Section 4 (iii)(b)(I) of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, limit the options available to an ‘intending couple’ or ‘intending woman’ and diminish their chances of finding a consenting surrogate mother,” read the petition, reported Bar and Bench.
A bench comprising of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Sachin Datta were hearing the case which has given the Centre a period of six months to file its response. The bench will hear the case on November 19.
The petition has been filed by Karan Balraj Mehta and Dr Pankhuri Chandra who want to become parents through surrogacy. In their plea, the two petitioners have have mentioned that they are deprived of the option to get a child as the commercial surrogacy is prohibited.
The couple cited that they cannot get the consent from the woman who is eligible for being a healthy surrogate mother for them. Owing to which, the only option they are left with is having baby through commercial surrogacy.
As per the two acts, a married woman aged between 25-35 years is eligible for the surrogate process. The ‘intending woman’, as it called in constitutional language, should have at least one biological child.
The laws also make it necessary for intending woman to be genetically related with the ‘intending couple’, claimed the petition.
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