Can a couple having healthy child opt for second baby through surrogacy? Supreme Court seeks response from Centre 

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Central government on a petition challenging a Section of the Surrogacy Act, which barred married couples from having a second child through surrogacy if they had a healthy first child.

The Bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Augustine George Masih passed the order on a petition challenging Section 4 (iii)(C)(ii) of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, which required couples wishing to have a child through surrogacy to secure an eligibility certificate clarifying that they did not have any surviving child (biologically or through adoption or surrogacy).

The petition highlighted that married couples had a right to exercise their reproductive choice of availing surrogacy to conceive a second child.

Appearing for the petitioners, Advocate Mohini Priya urged the Apex Court to strike down Section 4 (iii)(C)(ii) of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 on the grounds that it had no rational.

They further said that by the way of this petition, they wanted to stop unnecessary State interference in the private lives of citizens. 

The petition said that having two children helped in inculcating the values of sharing and caring and strengthened family bonds. 

It was in the best interestof the surviving child to have a genetically linked sibling. A biological sibling could be a match for bone marrow, tissue or organs in the event a need for any of those arose, added the plea.

Advocate Priya further requested the top court of the country to at least read down the challenged restriction in Section 4 so that it wws not interpreted to lay down any mandatory requirement.

The petitioners sought directions to allow couples to have a second child through surrogacy.

The Supreme Court is already seized of a batch of public interest litigation (PIL) petitions challenging the ban on commercial surrogacy.

The petitioners in these PILs have challenged the validity of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 and the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 (ART Act), as well the Rules framed under each Act.