NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the society today has gone beyond the concept of motherhood, adding the law permits individuals to adopt a child irrespective of marital status.
Pointing out that the question of guardianship is evolving, a five-judge bench hearing a batch of pleas seeking legal recognition to same-sex marriage, said the law recognises adoption for a variety of reasons apart from “an ideal family” having its own biological children.
“We’ve gone beyond motherhood and gone into parenthood today and there are single parents. The question of guardianship is evolving. What is central to this is the welfare of the child,” Justice S R Bhat said. “Our law permits a single person to adopt a child... The law recognises that there may be situations apart from this ideal family having their own biological children,” said the bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud.
The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) conceded that an individual in a same-sex relationship is not precluded from adopting a child. “We take that as CARA’s position,” the bench said. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, however, argued that the law does not recognise the right of a same-sex couple to adopt since it is based on the foundation that a child must have a stable family. It said the concept of gender may be fluid but not mother and motherhood.