The
Kerala High Court on Tuesday held that there should not be any discrimination
against woman employees who had a baby through surrogacy in the matter of
granting maternity benefits.
 |
| Kerala High Court |
The
Court gave its ruling in a writ petition filed by P. Geetha, Deputy General
Manager, Kerala Livestock Development Board, who obtained a baby through a
surrogate mother, against the refusal of the board to grant her maternity leave.
The
Kerala Livestock Development Board rejected her request on the ground that its
staff rule and regulation did not provide leave to a woman employee who got a
baby through surrogacy.
The
petitioner contended that there was no justification for refusing maternity
leave for the reason that the baby was born thorough a surrogate mother. She
also contended that motherhood was an integral part of womanhood, and with
advanced assisted-reproduction methods in place, one could not cling to the
traditional meaning of maternity. A woman who had a baby through surrogacy
should be treated just as a natural mother, and she should not be discriminated
merely on the ground that she did not bear a child in her womb, said the
petitioner.
The
Kerala High Court speaking through Justice Dama Seshadri Naidu held that the
petitioner was entitled to all post-delivery benefits sans the leave for
improving the health of the mother after delivery. In fact, the petitioner did
not bear the child and she could not insist on leave for convalescing and
regaining her health, the court said.
The
Court also observed that child-specific statutory benefits, if any, could be
extended to the petitioner.
No comments:
Post a Comment