Maternity Leave to be granted for Surrogacy

Maternity Leave should be granted for Surrogacy too

Delhi High court has cleared this recently that those women working in government jobs who become mothers through surrogacy are also entitled for maternity leave. According to court if such women are not given maternity leaves then it is harmful for both the child and the mother. The court specified that to not grant maternity leave to women is to close our eyes towards scientific development of the world. In January, Kerala High court gave the verdict in an important case that there could be no discrimination between a genetic and a surrogate mother. Therefore, the surrogate mother can also avail all benefits like the genetic mother.

This should be known that in the above case the Kerala Animal development board’s deputy chairperson was not allowed maternity leave by stating that she is not a genetic mother of the child. The Madras high court also gave a similar decision in 2013. The question here arises that why only the genetic mothers get maternity leave and those women who cannot give birth to their own child and opt for surrogacy are not allowed the same and have to ask help from court. In addition, another question is when a women who adopts a child is given maternity leave then why not the women who opts for surrogacy. The central complaint pension and training department had asked the states to give equal rights and benefits to those women who adopt and become a mother but many states did not abide by these rules. Many big private companies provide monetary benefits and maternity leaves for women who adopt a child but in these cases, also there is no mention of surrogacy motherhood.

Profit and Loss myopic view-

The profit and loss myopic view of companies is making the confidence of women weaker. Motherhood is considered a personal thing and so government and private companies see it as a burden on them. That is why there are discrepancies in granting the maternity leave of 90 to 180 days. When a woman takes care of a child then she plays an important role in the development and growth of the country. The laws will be successful only when they amend as per changing scenarios. Uttrakhand Government had taken the decision to grant maternity leave to women who become mothers through surrogacy in 2014. However, such a decision needs to be taken in the whole country.

Maternity Leave to be granted for Surrogacy

# Ritu Saraswat social worker -