KOCHI: A 32-year-old woman, who got pregnant through In vitro fertilization (IVF), has approached the Kerala High Court against the rule insisting on details of the father of the child in the birth register. She also sought to strike down the column requiring the father's details from the birth certificates of a child born to a single mother.
The petitioner who is a native of Panmana, Kollam submitted that the process was done by way of artificial insemination by accepting the sperm of a donor, whose identity has to be kept secret. The identity of the donor is not even disclosed to the petitioner. However, the name and details of the father are to be furnished in the applications for registering births and deaths as per Kerala Registration of Births and Deaths Rules, submitted by Aruna A, counsel for the petitioner.
She is a divorcee and after that, she did IVF by accepting the sperm of an anonymous donor. Hence, she is a single mother. She is now in her sixth month of pregnancy.
A woman in India, who has crossed the age of 18 years, has the right to become pregnant through an IVF procedure accepting sperm of an anonymous donor. Therefore the laws of the land should also recognise the right of a woman to raise her child as a single mother, especially in situations where the name of the father or sperm donor cannot be disclosed. The right of single mothers has been recognised by the Supreme Court in 2015.
However, the Rule infringes the right to privacy and the right to equality and goes against the provisions of the parent law-Registration of Births and Deaths Act. The petitioner being a single mother, cannot be insisted to give details regarding the father of the child. It will violate the right to privacy of the child as well as the petitioner if the authorities are allowed to keep the column showing the name of the father and his details in the birth and death certificate as blank or as unknown. Hence, such a field should be deleted from the certificates of a child born to a single mother. Otherwise, it will continuously create problems in the life of the child and the mother, since it will be obvious for the person who sees the certificate that, the child is born outside the wedlock.
When the petition came up for hearing, Justice Sathish Ninan sought the view of the state government and adjourned the hearing.