The Delhi High Court permitted an elderly couple to access their deceased son’s frozen semen for surrogacy, establishing that Indian law does not prohibit posthumous reproduction if consent is present, thus recognizing the sperm sample as part of the individual’s biological material and allowing it to be inherited.
In a heartwarming ruling, the Delhi High Court green-lighted an elderly couple’s request to allow them access to their deceased son’s frozen semen sample and let them have a grandchild through surrogacy. The couple had to take the legal route for the posthumous assisted reproduction after the hospital refused to release the sperm due to the absence of clear legal guidelines for cases without a spouse. The couple lost their 30-year-old son, Preet Inder Singh to Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a form of blood cancer.
Why Delhi HC granted couple the access
The court ruled in the couple’s favour and in her order, Justice Prathiba Singh said that “under Indian law, there was no prohibition against posthumous reproduction” if the sperm owner had consented. Singh said that the parents were entitled to the sample as in the absence of a spouse or children, they became legal heirs under the Hindu Succession Act. The semen sample in this case can be treated as “property” since it is part of the individual’s biological material just like “the human corpse or its organs”, said the court. Court also said there was no prohibition on the release of the sperm sample to a person other than the spouse. Read full article
Also, you should read this >> The Right to Parenthood After Loss: How a Landmark Court Ruling is Shaping Surrogacy Laws in India
