The plea was filed by a 41-year-old transwoman and activist Dr. Aqsa Shaikh, who has argued that exclusion of single unmarried women and trans persons from surrogacy procedures is violative of Articles 14, 15(1) and 21 of the Constitution.
She has also contended that exclusion of queer and transgender persons from availing surrogacy amounts to discrimination on the ground of gender identity and sexual orientation
“The Rules and Amendment Notification state that only married couples or women who are divorced or widowed can avail of surrogacy procedures, thus excluding single unmarried women and transgender persons from availing surrogacy. As such, all women who are single, and never married, or women in live-in relationships, women in same-sex relationships and queer women are completely excluded from availing surrogacy procedures,” the plea said.
Source: Barandbench
