Supreme Court seeks Central government response on plea to allow surrogacy for unmarried women

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the response of the Central government to a plea seeking permission to allow single, unmarried women to avail the option of having children through surrogacy [Neha Nagpal alias Neeha Nagpal vs Union of India and ors]..The matter was taken up by a bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan which was initially dismissive of the petitioner's contentions after it was revealed that she had frozen her eggs. However, the Court eventually decided to examine the issue and sought the Central government's response in the matter..The petition has been filed by Supreme Court lawyer Neeha Nagpal who stated that women should be allowed to have a child without being married."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," her plea stated.The ban on surrogacy for unmarried women violates the petitioner’s right to reproduction, her right to start a family, her right to a meaningful family life and her right to privacy, the petitioner added."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," stated the plea further..Appearing for the petitioner, Senior Advocate Saurabh Kirpal argued that there were massive gaps in the current Surrogacy Rules. The ban on single women from opting for surrogacy is hit by Articles 14 (right to equality) and 21 (right to life), he added.Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati pointed out that the issue of unmarried women availing of surrogacy is currently pending before the top court in a larger batch of pleas.The ASG added that single, unmarried women are still allowed to have children by means of Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ART). "We are having a conundrum. How many ART procedures have happened in India for unmarried women? We have to see the pulse of Indian society also," Justice Nagarathna replied."My lords may say that, but the fabric of the Constitution has to be maintained. This needs to be heard. I am sure I can convince the court of the merits. We are not pressing for (interim) stay," Kirpal then urged the Court.The apex court then proceeded to issue notice in the matter..The petition was filed through advocate Malak Manish Bhatt..The plea was heard along with a batch of public interest litigation (PIL) petitions challenging the ban on commercial surrogacy.In these PILs, the petitioners have challenged 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.In October this year, the Supreme Court had observed that a complete ban on using donor gametes (eggs or sperm) in gestational surrogacies appeared to be against the Rules under the Surrogacy Act