Supreme Court seeks Centre's reply on plea challenging provision of surrogacy law

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Centre on a plea seeking the quashing of a provision of the surrogacy law, which bars single unmarried women from having children through surrogacy.

Senior advocate Saurabh Kirpal, representing the petitioner, a practising lawyer, submitted before a bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan that massive gaps exist in the current surrogacy rules, violating Article 14 (equality before the law) and Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution.

The plea argued that the provision violated the petitioner’s right to reproduction, the right to meaningful family life, and the right to privacy, all of which are facets of the fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Centre, contended that the issue of single unmarried women opting for surrogacy is pending before a larger bench.

The petitioner’s counsel stressed that the matter needs to be heard as it involves a larger constitutional question.

The court issued notice to the Centre and sought its response.

The plea, filed through advocate Malak Manish Bhatt, cited Section 2(1) (s) of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, which prohibits single, unmarried women from availing themselves of the benefits of surrogacy while allowing the same for divorced or widowed women.

“The petitioner has a right to reproduction and motherhood even without entering a marriage. The petitioner has a diabetic condition and is approximately 40 years of age and has been informed that pregnancies above 36 years of age are termed as geriatric pregnancies and involve complications, especially in diabetic patients,” the plea said.

The petitioner also stated she wanted to secure her right to avail herself of surrogacy and experience motherhood on her terms without the state’s interference in her private life.

“The Act, by restricting surrogacy to only those women who have ever been married even though they may now be divorced or widowed, violates the petitioner’s right to privacy,” the plea said.