The trauma and fatigue from her first pregnancy, which coincided with the second wave of COVID-19 last year, juggling multiple responsibilities as a new mother and a desire to resume her practice as a psychologist are the reasons why a 31-year-old married woman now wishes to “outsource” the birth of her second child to be able to “live freely”. She has subsequently approached the Delhi High Court along with another male petitioner to question why marital status, age, or gender should be criteria for prohibiting someone from commissioning a surrogacy.
Under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 a married couple can opt for surrogacy only on medical grounds. The law defines a couple as a married Indian “man and woman” and also prescribes an age-criteria with the woman being in the age of 23 years to 50 years and the man between 26 years to 55 years. The couple should not have a child of their own. Though the law allows single women to resort to surrogacy, she has to be a widow or a divorcee between the age of 35 and 45 years. Single men are not eligible.
The woman petitioner, who does not want to be identified, and Delhi-based lawyer Karan Balraj Mehta, who is single, have challenged the surrogacy law and the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 which also provides a regulatory framework for surrogacy in Delhi High Court. They have also challenged the ban on commercial surrogacy. Last week, the court sought a response from the Centre to their petition.
