Give passports to surrogate twins: SC

 
The 22-month-old twins have been living in Rajasthan since their birth in a nursing home in Gujarat to an Indian woman. Their citizenship has been questioned by the laws of both India and Germany.

A bench headed by Justice G S Singhvi asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to issue travel documents to the twins within 48 hours as the Centre had refused to grant them passports.

Advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for Jan Balaz, a German national, submitted that the passports were ready, and that they should be handed over to the biological parents.

But Additional Solicitor General Harin P Rawal said the passports had been withdrawn as the government could not issue the documents to the children as their parents were Germans.

Balaz and his wife did not want passports in which the Indian carrier is mentioned as mother as she would have a stake in their property back home, besides demanding German citizenship.

Controversy

The parentage of a child born through surrogacy, a recent trend, is a matter of controversy in several countries.

The bench asked the German couple to approach the Germany Embassy with the travel documents. If the embassy does not allow them to travel, they have to approach the court on December 15.

The Centre had challenged a Gujarat HC ruling that asked the MHA to issue passports to the twins. It contended that issuing passports would mean the twins were Indians.
According to the Centre, the passport office was willing to issue travel documents to the twins, but they (German couple) were not prepared to accept it. The boys were born to surrogate mother Martha Khristhi on Jan 4, 2008.