Surrogacy raises a maternity leave issue in High Court

Kochi: A petition has been filed before Kerala high court raising a legal question whether the mother of a surrogate child can seek maternity leave. Geetha, deputy general manager (F&A), Livestock Development Board, had lost her son in an accident and her uterus was removed.  Later, the couple decided to have a baby through surrogacy and a male child was born on June 18, 2014 through a host mother.

But the department has now denied her maternity leave stating that she was not the biological mother of the child.

She pointed out that she was undoubtedly the mother of a minor boy and that she was entitled to develop a bondage through surrogate agreement.

Geetha contended that maternity leave was to take care of new-born babies and that there was no justification in denying her leave. She further submitted that the care needed for a baby born in normal circumstances and through surrogacy process was the same.

The department took the stand that as per the staff rules and regulations, a female employee is not allowed to take leave for looking after her baby obtained through surrogacy. The department argued that leave can be granted only for the maternity envisaged under normal circumstances. The court will consider the matter on Wednesday.

Geetha submitted that she had been under medication for infertility for more than 20 years but that all the treatment had gone in vain. It was after this the couple decided to have a baby through surrogacy.