COUPLE WINS COURT BATTLE TO UTILISE THEIR DECEASED SON’S SPERM FOR SURROGACY.
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The Delhi High Court has allowed an Indian couple the right to utilise their late son, Preet Inder Singh’s stored sperm for surrogacy.
Surrogacy is a situation in which a woman agrees to carry and deliver a child for another person or couple, who will become the child’s parent(s) following the birth.
It is frequently used as a treatment option for people or couples experiencing infertility, medical difficulties, or other obstacles to conceiving and bringing a pregnancy to term.
The BBC reported on Wednesday that the unprecedented verdict came after a four-year legal battle after a hospital refused to release the sperm.
The couple expressed their excitement by saying, “We were really unlucky; we lost our son. However, the court has given us a very valuable gift. Harbir Kaur, Preet’s mother, told the BBC that they will finally be able to receive their son back.
Harbir Kaur and her husband, Gurvinder Singh, filed legal action in December 2020 when Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi refused to release the sperm kept in its reproductive lab.
In June 2020, their 30-year-old son, Preet Inder Singh, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and admitted to the hospital for treatment.
“Before he began chemotherapy, the hospital advised him to store his semen as the treatment could adversely affect the quality of his sperm,” Gurvinder Singh recounted. Preet Inder, who was not married, agreed, and his sperm sample was frozen for June 27, 2020.
He died in early September of the same year.
Months later, when the bereaved parents sought access to the sperm, the hospital denied their request, causing the pair to seek redress in the Delhi High Court.
In their plea, the couple, now in their 60s, informed the court that they would raise any kid born from their son’s sperm and that in the event of their death, their two daughters would assume responsibility for the child.
Justice Prathiba Singh held that posthumous procreation is not prohibited under Indian law provided the sperm donor consents.
She stated that, in the absence of a spouse or children, Preet Inder’s parents were entitled to the sperm under the Hindu Succession Act, as they had become his legal heirs.
The couple wanted to carry on their son’s legacy, so they decided to use sperm.
On Thursday, Hindustan Times reported that the judge, using the Hindu Succession Act, decided that parents are entitled to their deceased son’s sperm since they are “Class-1 legal heirs.”
“He loved his sisters and was well-liked by his friends. He is my phone’s screensaver. “I start my day by looking at his face every morning,” Ms Kaur said, declining to provide a photo owing to privacy concerns.
The family intends to keep the surrogacy inside the family, with a relative volunteering to be the surrogate. Commercial surrogacy is against the law in India.
According to their lawyer, Suruchii Aggarwal, while the case is unusual, it is not unprecedented.
Meanwhile, TodaysFamilyLawyer reported on Thursday that the judge decided in the couple’s favour last week, adding that “Indian law does not prohibit posthumous reproduction if the deceased has given consent.”
According to her, “as Preet was unmarried and had no children, his parents became his legal heirs under the Hindu Succession Act and were entitled to access the sperm sample.”
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