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Surrogacy mother entitled to all maternity benefits: HC
Surrogacy Mother Entitled to All Maternity Benefits: High Court. In a landmark judgement, Kerala High Court on Tuesday held that a woman, whose child is born of surrogacy, is also entitled to all maternity benefits.
HC held that there cannot be any discrimination between genetic and surrogate mother. Genetic mother is required to be placed on the same pedestal as the natural biological mother
Kochi: In a landmark judgement, Kerala High Court on Tuesday held that a woman, whose child is born of surrogacy, is also entitled to all maternity benefits.
The judgment in this regard was passed by Justice D S Naidu on a petition filed by P Geetha, Deputy General Manager with the Kerala Livestock Development Board, whose child was born of surrogacy.
Geetha had approached the High Court challenging her employer's decision not to grant her maternity leave on the ground that her child had been delivered by surrogacy and she was not the biological mother.
Disposing the petition, the court held that there cannot be any discrimination between genetic and surrogate mother. Genetic mother is required to be placed on the same pedestal as the natural biological mother.
The court held that the petitioner is required to be treated as a mother who has undergone pregnancy and delivered the baby and was entitled to all benefits that accrues to an employee, except convalescing after delivery.
From day one of the delivery, the petitioner is required to be treated as mother of the new born baby. Court declared that there ought not be any discrimination of a woman as far as maternity benefits are concerned on the grounds that the baby was obtained out of surrogacy.
The petitioner was entitled to all benefits an employee would have got post delivery, the court held. The child's specific rights, if any, can be extended to the mother also.
The petitioner had waited for several years to get the baby after her only son was killed in a road accident.
According to the board the Staff Rules and Regulation had no provision to grant leave to a woman employee who got a baby through surrogacy.
