Identity of child not attached to father alone: Single mother moves Kerala HC against mandate to have father's name in child's B

Identity of child not attached to father alone: Single mother moves Kerala HC against mandate to have father's name in child's Birth Certificate

An expectant single mother has moved the Kerala High Court challenging the Kerala Registration of Birth and Death Rules, 1999, specifically the requirement to give the details of the father of a child/person for the purpose of registration of birth/death and the requirement to show the name of father in the birth and death certificates of a person.

The petitioner chose to become pregnant by way of In-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and is currently past her second trimester. This involved being artificially inseminated by an anonymous sperm donor whose identity is not disclosed even to the petitioner.

However, as per the aforementioned Kerala Registration of Birth and Death Rules (the Rules), it is compulsory to give the details of the father to acquire a birth certificate for the child.

The petition, filed through Advocate Aruna A, challenged the Rules on the ground that it is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India, right to privacy, and ultra vires to the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969.

The Rules prescribe forms 1-9 for the registration of births and deaths in the State and it is alleged that a mere perusal of the same would show that it is totally unjust as far as single mothers and children born to single mothers are concerned.

In these forms, there is a provision only to show the name of the father, which the petitioner contended is illegal and arbitrary since persons like the petitioner who have received sperm from an anonymous donor cannot give details of the father.

It was also submitted that exclusion of mother’s details from the birth and death certificate of a child/person is discrimination based on sex which violates Article 14 of the Constitution of India.

The petitioner placed reliance on the judgment of the Supreme Court in ABC v. State (NCT of Delhi) in the which the Supreme Court had directed that "if a single parent/unwed mother applies for the issuance of a birth certificate for a child born from her womb, the authorities concerned may only require her to furnish an affidavit to this effect, and must thereupon issue the birth certificate, unless there is a court direction to the contrary"

Subsequently, a communication dated July 21, 2015 was sent by the Deputy Registrar General ( CRS) to all Chief Registrar of Births and Deaths which says, “name of other parent will be left blank’.

However, it was contended that there is no direction from the Supreme Court to leave the field of other parent blank in the aforementioned judgment, but the requirement is that an affidavit must be provided.

If the authorities are allowed to keep the column showing the name of the father and his details in the birth and death certificate as blank or as unknown, it is submitted that it would be apparent to anyone that the child is born out of wedlock.

This would be violative of the right to privacy of the petitioner, it was submitted.

The judgement of the Supreme Court in KS Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017) was also cited where the court stated that "privacy includes at its core the preservation of personal intimacies, the sanctity of family life, marriage, procreation, the home and sexual orientation. Privacy also connotes a right to be left alone. Privacy safeguards individual autonomy and recognises the ability of the individual to control vital aspects of his or her life. Personal choices governing a way of life are intrinsic to privacy….”

According to the petitioner, the decision to become a single parent is a personal choice and she and her child are entitled to enjoy their right to privacy.

Since neither the Act nor the Rule mandates the disclosure of the identity of the father of the child, the authorities should at the most be allowed only to mandate that the mother establishes that the child was born from her womb.

For the same, an affidavit sworn by the mother would be sufficient, it was contended.

On these grounds and others, the petitioner prayed, inter alia, that the requirement of entering the father's details be removed from birth certificates.

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