Surrogacy nod for single women? Supreme Court seeks government reply

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine the plea whether an unmarried woman can avail the option of having children through surrogacy and sought response of the Centre.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said that a single woman bearing a child is an exception and not a rule in Indian society and questioned whether a single woman having a child through surrogacy could be an "accepted norm" in Indian society. It, however, issued a notice to the Centre on a petition filed by a lawyer Neeha Nagpal who contended in her petition that ban on surrogacy for unmarried women violates their right to reproduction, right to start a family and motherhood.

"The petitioner wants to secure her right of availing surrogacy and experience motherhood on her terms without state's interference in her private life. The petitioner has a right to reproduction and motherhood even without entering a marriage," the petition said.

"The prohibition on any monetary compensation/ consideration to the surrogate mother effectively makes it impossible for the petitioner to find a surrogate mother. The law, instead of seeking to regulate surrogacy, in effect bans it by imposing the requirement of altruistic surrogacy," the petition said.

The apex court is already examining the validity of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 and the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 (ART Act), as well Rules framed under each Act.