The Gujarat High Court on Monday gives custody of the six-day-old surrogate child to the biological parents as the surrogate mother is imprisoned under severe criminal charges including child trafficking.
The division bench of Justice V M Pancholi and Justice S N Bhatt considered the provisions of the surrogacy agreement between the intending parents and the surrogate dated December 21, 2021. The bench observed that “there is no time limit mentioned for which the child is to be retained by the surrogate for breastfeeding”.
Facts of the case:
A couple from Ajmer opted for surrogacy as they were not able to have a child after their long married life. They signed a contract with a 31-year-old divorcee woman from Lakhvad village in the Mehsana district, who would be the surrogate mother. In February, the surrogate was accused of being a member of a gang of child-lifters which was booked for allegedly abducting a four-month-old girl and selling her for Rs 2 lakh to a co-accused in the case.
She was arrested for charges under sections 363, 370, 370 (a), 120 B, 114 of IPC and Section 81, 84, and 87 of The Juvenile Justice Act. On April 6, a city sessions court denied bail to her and she has been in Sabarmati jail since. The surrogate was brought to the Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad for delivery and she delivered a girl child on June 21. The biological parents went to take the child and the medical authorities handed the custody of the child to the parents.
The surrogate filed an affidavit in the court and said that she was willing to give custody of the child to the couple. The court inquired with the government about the period minimum for retaining custody of the child with the surrogate for the purpose of breastfeeding, but no such provision is present in the law. Therefore, the custody should be given to the biological parents, the court said.
Read More: Couple Seeks Custody Of Surrogate Infant From Gujarat High Court
