The Delhi High Court has given permission to an Indian couple to utilize the frozen sperm of their deceased son, Preet Inder Singh, for surrogacy.
Surrogacy is an agreement where a woman consents to bear and give birth to a child on behalf of another person or couple, who will assume parenthood once the child is born.
It is commonly employed as an option for those dealing with infertility, medical issues, or other challenges preventing them from conceiving and sustaining a pregnancy.
According to BBC on Wednesday, this historic decision came after a four-year legal battle, following a hospital’s refusal to release the sperm.
The couple expressed their joy, stating, “We were very unlucky, we lost our son. But the court has given us a very precious gift. We would now be able to get our son back,” Preet’s mother, Harbir Kaur, told the BBC.
Harbir Kaur and her husband, Gurvinder Singh, took legal action after Delhi’s Ganga Ram Hospital declined to release sperm stored in its fertility lab in December 2020.
Their 30-year-old son, Preet Inder Singh, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in June 2020 and was admitted 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 explained. Preet Inder, who was unmarried, agreed, and his sperm sample was frozen on June 27, 2020.
He died in early September that same year.
Several months later, when the mourning parents requested access to the sperm, the hospital refused, leading the couple to approach the Delhi High Court.
In their request, the couple, now in their 60s, promised the court that they would care for any child born from their son’s sperm, and if they were no longer alive, their two daughters had agreed to take responsibility for the child.
Justice Prathiba Singh ruled that Indian law does not forbid posthumous reproduction if the sperm donor has given consent.
She highlighted that, since Preet Inder had no spouse or children, his parents were entitled to his sperm according to the Hindu Succession Act, as they were his legal heirs.
The couple’s motivation to use the sperm stemmed from their desire to preserve their son’s legacy.
Quoting Indian Express on Thursday, Hindustan Times reported that the judge, referencing the Hindu Succession Act, ruled that parents are entitled to their deceased son’s sperm as they are “Class-1 legal heirs.”
“He loved his sisters and was much loved by his friends. He is the screensaver on my phone. I start my day by looking at his face every morning,” Ms Kaur shared while declining to release a photo due to privacy concerns.
The family intends to have the surrogacy stay within their relatives, as a family member has volunteered to be the surrogate. In India, commercial surrogacy is prohibited by law.
Their lawyer, Suruchii Aggarwal, noted that although the case is uncommon, it is not entirely unprecedented.
Meanwhile, TodaysFamilyLawyer on Thursday reported that last week, the judge ruled in favour of the couple, stating that “Indian law does not prohibit posthumous reproduction if the deceased has given consent.”
She acknowledged that “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.”
