Posts
Source: The Times of India dated 6th March 2013
Article by A Subramani
CHENNAI: If parents who adopt a child are entitled to child care leave, why not those who have a child through surrogacy? Raising a toast to surrogate parenthood, the Madras high court on Tuesday held that government employees opting for children through surrogacy too would be entitled to 'maternity leave' in the form of 'child care leave'.
Justice K Chandru, passing orders on a petition filed by a Chennai Port Trust officer, who was denied child care leave after she had a child through surrogacy, said: "If law can provide child care leave in case of adoptive parents, then it should also apply to parents who obtained a child through a surrogate agreement. The object of such a leave is to take care of the child and develop a good bond between the child and the parents."
Rejecting the port trust's attempts to raise "moral, ethical and religious" issues involved in surrogate parenthood, Justice Chandru said: "This court does not find anything immoral and unethical about the woman officer having obtained a child through surrogate arrangement."
The object of such a leave is to take care of the child, and develop a good bond between the child and the parents.
Comprehensive legislation on surrogacy need of the hour, says Madras high court
He said, "For all practical purposes, she is the mother of the girl child and her husband is the father. Once it is admitted that the minor child is the daughter of the officer, she is entitled to leave like %those who are granted leave as per Rule 3-A of the Madras Port Trust (Leave) Regulations, 1987. The purpose of the rule is ensure proper bonding between the child and the parents."
The matter relates to a senior port trust officer, whose 20-year-old son died in a road accident in 2009. As her uterus had been removed in 2008, she and her husband approached a Chennai hospital to have a baby through surrogacy. A baby girl was born in February 2011 through a surrogate mother. In order to look after the child, she applied for maternity leave (post-delivery) and also sought reimbursement of medical expenses. As a third request, she wanted family insurance cover for the child. Though the authorities granted her two months' leave initially as a special case, it was cancelled later. They also rejected her two other requests. She then moved the HC seeking maternity leave, reimbursement of medical expenses and insurance cover for her child.
In its counter-affidavit, the port trust said, "Apart from legal, other issues such as moral, ethical, psychological and religious are involved in surrogacy procedure. Hence, in India, a comprehensive legislation is very much the need of the hour to address the complex legal issues related to surrogacy." The officer's counsel Srinath Sridevan, however, cited several international covenants, United Nations resolutions and judgments from foreign courts, and said a mother and a minor girl child were entitled to develop a bond between them. He said if existing maternity leave rules do not provide for such a leave, the rules should be interpreted to the benefit of parents who get children through surrogacy.
The judge accepted the officer's plea for leave and insurance cover for the child, but rejected her request for reimbursement of medical expenses, saying there was no specific legal provision for that.
Article by A Subramani
CHENNAI: If parents who adopt a child are entitled to child care leave, why not those who have a child through surrogacy? Raising a toast to surrogate parenthood, the Madras high court on Tuesday held that government employees opting for children through surrogacy too would be entitled to 'maternity leave' in the form of 'child care leave'.
Justice K Chandru, passing orders on a petition filed by a Chennai Port Trust officer, who was denied child care leave after she had a child through surrogacy, said: "If law can provide child care leave in case of adoptive parents, then it should also apply to parents who obtained a child through a surrogate agreement. The object of such a leave is to take care of the child and develop a good bond between the child and the parents."
Rejecting the port trust's attempts to raise "moral, ethical and religious" issues involved in surrogate parenthood, Justice Chandru said: "This court does not find anything immoral and unethical about the woman officer having obtained a child through surrogate arrangement."
The object of such a leave is to take care of the child, and develop a good bond between the child and the parents.
Comprehensive legislation on surrogacy need of the hour, says Madras high court
He said, "For all practical purposes, she is the mother of the girl child and her husband is the father. Once it is admitted that the minor child is the daughter of the officer, she is entitled to leave like %those who are granted leave as per Rule 3-A of the Madras Port Trust (Leave) Regulations, 1987. The purpose of the rule is ensure proper bonding between the child and the parents."
The matter relates to a senior port trust officer, whose 20-year-old son died in a road accident in 2009. As her uterus had been removed in 2008, she and her husband approached a Chennai hospital to have a baby through surrogacy. A baby girl was born in February 2011 through a surrogate mother. In order to look after the child, she applied for maternity leave (post-delivery) and also sought reimbursement of medical expenses. As a third request, she wanted family insurance cover for the child. Though the authorities granted her two months' leave initially as a special case, it was cancelled later. They also rejected her two other requests. She then moved the HC seeking maternity leave, reimbursement of medical expenses and insurance cover for her child.
In its counter-affidavit, the port trust said, "Apart from legal, other issues such as moral, ethical, psychological and religious are involved in surrogacy procedure. Hence, in India, a comprehensive legislation is very much the need of the hour to address the complex legal issues related to surrogacy." The officer's counsel Srinath Sridevan, however, cited several international covenants, United Nations resolutions and judgments from foreign courts, and said a mother and a minor girl child were entitled to develop a bond between them. He said if existing maternity leave rules do not provide for such a leave, the rules should be interpreted to the benefit of parents who get children through surrogacy.
The judge accepted the officer's plea for leave and insurance cover for the child, but rejected her request for reimbursement of medical expenses, saying there was no specific legal provision for that.
No comments:
Post a Comment