Factual Matrix
A lawsuit brought by a couple seeking a surrogate to stop a notice Delhi High Court Orders the Central Government to Respond to a Complaint of Discrimination in Surrogacy Regulations
e altering the Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules, 2022, which effectively prevents couples from using surrogacy unless both of them are capable of producing gametes. According to the petition, the woman cannot generate oocytes, and the couple has been approved to use the surrogacy operation as a cutting-edge treatment for infertility. The revised rule now states that donor gametes are not permitted and that the intended couple undertaking surrogacy must possess both gametes.
The Central Government amended Form 2 in accordance with Surrogacy Rule 7 mentioned by the Petitioners. The law basically prohibits infertile couples from using surrogacy services unless they are both able to produce gametes. They are legally rendered incapable of having children through their embryos, depriving them of their right to parenting for all time. It went on to say that the change violates the Act, establishes reprehensible discrimination between people in similar circumstances without revealing any understandable criteria, and does so solely on the basis of a person’s ability to carry a gestational pregnancy. When the wife’s uterus is healthy or viable, the pair is allowed to use donor gametes; nevertheless, if the wife is not capable of carrying a gestational pregnancy, the couple is prohibited from using a surrogate and is denied the opportunity to become parents, making infertile couples a target of discrimination. The petitioners’ incapacity to produce gametes is the only reason for rejecting their request to act as surrogates. They continued by saying that the modification could expose legitimate “infertile couples” to criminal prosecution and leave them open to surrogates according to Sections 40–42 of the Surrogacy Act.
Court Order
Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad of the Delhi High Court sent notifications to the Central and Delhi governments and requested responses. The court added that infertile surrogacy violates a couple’s right to parenthood and that the Central government’s notification on March 14, 2023, amending para 1(d) of Form 2 under Rule 7 of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules, 2022 is discriminatory against those who are unable to have children of their own.