The Kerala High Court has held that a 55-year-old man is entitled to continue surrogacy procedures until he reaches the age of 56, extending a previous legal interpretation regarding upper age limits under Indian surrogacy laws.
Justice Harisankar V Menon delivered the ruling while disposing of a writ petition filed by a married couple from Kollam whose surrogacy process was halted after the husband turned 55. The court declared that surrogacy services must be extended to the couple until the husband completes his 56th year.
Application Of Legal Age Upper Limits
The decision aligns with a precedent set by a division bench of the high court in the case of Rajitha P V. In that ruling, the court determined that the statutory age range of 23 to 50 years for an intending mother includes her entire 50th year, meaning eligibility terminates only when she turns 51.
Applying that logic to male partners under Section 4(iii)(c) of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, Justice Menon held that the same standard must apply to husbands. Because the petitioner had not yet reached 56 years of age, the bench concluded that he remained legally eligible to proceed with the medical process.
Background Of The Case
The couple had already commenced the surrogacy procedure prior to seeking legal intervention. Medical certificates presented to the court confirmed that the couple’s embryo was created and cryopreserved in 2022.
The process was later suspended after the husband reached 55 years of age. The petitioners challenged the stoppage, arguing that denying them further treatment would permanently foreclose their ability to become parents using their existing cryopreserved embryo.
Court Rationale On Fundamental Rights
In its August 21 decision, the court observed that matters of parenthood and family life involve deeply personal rights that require careful judicial interpretation. Citing prior bench observations, the court emphasized that legal interpretations leading to an irreversible loss of the opportunity to have a child require rigorous scrutiny.
The court concluded that a restrictive reading of the age limit would permanently deprive the couple of their chance to have a child, justifying the extension of surrogacy services until the husband turns 56.
