A sperm or sperm donor has no legal right to a child as a birth parent: High Court

The egg donor has no legal rights over the child born through surrogacy. Egg or sperm donors cannot claim parental rights to a child born through IVF treatment. The Bombay High Court gave this decision on Tuesday. Regarding a case, the court has said that the donor cannot get the biological mother's rights over the child born through surrogacy. Under the Surrogacy Act, only the biological contribution of the donor is made and the legal parents of the child are identified at the time of birth. With this decision, the boundaries between surrogacy and the rights of the donor have been clarified.

The Bombay High Court quashed the order of the Thane court in which the petitioner woman was denied access to her twin children because she was not their biological mother. The High Court, while giving its verdict on this matter, said that if a person donates eggs or sperm, he cannot claim parental rights over children born through surrogacy or in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. This decision has come in a case in which the donor had demanded legal rights over the child. The court rejected this claim of a woman. Apart from this, the mother of the children was allowed to meet them.

The High Court said that under the Surrogacy Act, the identity of the legal parents of a child born is determined in advance and the right of the donor is limited only on biological grounds. The court also said in its decision that it is extremely important to follow the laws to protect legal rights and ensure clarity in the matter of surrogacy. This decision is an important step in understanding the legal aspects of surrogacy and will also have an impact on the legal processes surrounding it.

What is surrogacy?

According to the report of WebMD, surrogacy is a system in which a woman becomes the mother of another couple's child through IVF process. There is a legal agreement in this, under which the woman gives birth to a child and after birth, the parental rights of the child go to the other couple. The woman who gives birth no longer has any legal rights over her child after it is born. In many countries, couples pay money to impregnate a woman and after birth the child becomes the couple's.