‘We are not like western countries’, unmarried woman expressed her desire to become a mother through surrogacy, Supreme Court rejected the petition
The Supreme Court, while rejecting the petition of a 44-year-old single woman to become a mother through surrogacy, said that the marriage system in the country should be protected and preserved. The court cannot follow the model of western countries, where children are born even without marriage. The bench of Justices Biwi Nagarathana and Augustine George Masih said that a single woman giving birth to a child out of wedlock is an exception rather than the rule of Indian society.
Actually, according to the Surrogacy Regulation Act, only those women who are widowed or divorced and whose age is between 35 to 45 years can do surrogacy. This means that an unmarried woman is not allowed to become a mother through surrogacy.
Hearing the petition filed by a 44-year-old single woman, the court said, “Becoming a mother in the marriage system here is an ideal. Becoming a mother without marriage is not ideal. We are concerned about it. We are talking from the point of view of the welfare of the child. By doing this will the marriage system survive in the country or not? We are not like western countries. The system of marriage must be preserved. You can call us conservative and we accept it.”
Let us tell you that the petitioner works for a multinational company and she had approached the Supreme Court to challenge the validity of Section 2(s) of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act.
The bench suggested adoption of the woman. However, his lawyer rejected it saying that the waiting period for this was too long. The court said, “It is difficult to raise and raise a surrogate child at the age of 44. You can’t get everything in life. The petitioner prefers to live alone. We are also concerned about society and the marriage system. We are not like the West, where many children do not know their mother and father. “We don’t want children to roam here without knowing about their parents.”
