After child via surrogacy, woman fights for leave

After child via surrogacy, woman fights for leave

 Saeed.Khan@timesgroup.com

 Ahmedabad : A postal department employee has moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) complaining that she has not been granted maternity leave because her child was born through surrogacy. She urged the tribunal to direct the department not to take any action against her by treating her absent on duty. On her argument that if paternity leave is granted to male employees, there is no point in denying maternity leave to her for having a child through surrogacy, the CAT has issued notice to the Centre and the chief post master general and stayed the department’s decision of not granting maternity leave to the employee. 

The tribunal has also stayed any departmental action against her by treating her absent on duty, said the woman’s advocate P H Pathak. In this case, a resident of Isanpur who works as postal assistant since 2007, Dharmishthaben Sirsikar (35), had requested her department for sixmonth maternity leave from February 16 to August 12 submitting that she had become a mother via surrogacy on February 16. On March 21, the department rejected her request saying that there is no provision for maternity leave in cases the birth of the child took place through surrogacy.  

‘Woman can’t be victimized on the ground of surrogacy’ Against this order, the employee moved CAT seeking declaration that the department is not justified in saying that there is no provision for sanctioning maternity leave to a mother whose child is born through surrogacy. 

She has also sought to restrain the department from passing any adverse order against her and not to treat her as absent. The applicant has termed the department’s decision as arbitrary, illegal, sans any application of mind and violative of constitutional provisions. The department’s order does not give any reason and it is contrary to the aim and object of provisions of Maternity Leave Benefits Act, 1961. In her application, she submitted, “To distinguish between a mother who begets a child through surrogacy and a natural mother, who gives birth to a child, would result in insulting womanhood and the intention of a woman to bring up a child begot- ten through surrogacy. Motherhood never ends on the birth of the child and a commissioning mother cannot be refused maternity leave. 

A woman cannot be discriminated against, as far as maternity benefits are concerned, only on the ground that she has obtained the baby through surrogacy. A newly born child cannot be left at the mercy of others as it needs rearing and that is the most crucial period during which the child requires care and attention of his mother.