The Kerala High Court has directed the State government to immediately provide separate forms for the registration of births of children born to single/unwed mothers through Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART).
Justice Sathish Ninan issued the directive recently while allowing a plea of a single mother who got pregnant through in vitro fertilization (IVF), seeking a directive to the State government to strike down the column requiring details of the father of the child from the birth certificate.
The court observed that the right of a single parent/unwed mother to conceive through ART having been recognized, prescriptions of forms requiring to mention the name of the father whose details had to be kept anonymous, was violative of the fundamental rights of privacy, liberty, and dignity.
Having conceived through ART procedure, the identity of the sperm donor could not be disclosed except in circumstances as may be compelled, under law. It fell within the realm of the “right of privacy”.
The Kerala Registration of Births and Deaths Rules mandated furnishing of various information regarding the father of the child, including his name, education, and occupation, while registering the birth. Such a column needed to be deleted from the birth certificates of a child born to a single mother through ART.
