Succession Rights Of Surrogacy-Born Children In India
- IJLLR Journal
- 14 minutes ago
- 1 min read
Prajual Agarwal & Sonam Drolia, Birla Global University, Bhubaneshwar
ABSTRACT
In this article, we analyze how Indian family law views inheritance and succession rights of children born through surrogacy. Although the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 provides that intended parents are the lawful guardians by establishing that legal parentage exists from birth of the surrogacy born child, it does not explicitly harmonize succession rights due to the pluralism of personal law systems in India. In addition, this has created uncertainty around succession rights for children born through surrogacy especially in regard to the intestate succession and inter-religious families. Using a doctrinal approach, this paper analyzes Article 14 & 21 of the Constitution of India, statutory provisions and case law, particularly Baby Manji Yamada v. Union of India (2008) and Jan Balaz v. Union of India (2009); to determine whether children born of surrogacy are on par with biological or adopted children for purposes of inheritance, coparcenary, and legitimacy. In summary, this paper asserts that while existing law allows for equal inheriting rights according to the legal relationship between the deceased and their children, there are many uncertainties arising from the absence of direct codification of distinct personal inheritance laws based on various forms of religious judgment throughout India. Based on this finding, the author suggests that there be a thorough rewrite of all relevant legislation that would establish uniformity regarding the inheriting rights of children born via surrogate mothers, thereby bringing family law into compliance with advancements in reproductive technologies.
Keywords: Surrogacy and inheritance rights, Legal parentage & surrogacy, Personal laws and succession, Constitutional Equality, Rights of surrogacy born children.
