Dhananjay Mahapatra | The Times of India | New Delhi | 1 December 2009
A childless German couple who had twins through a Gujarati surrogate mother are negotiating their first challenge as parents, in the Supreme Court — German laws do not recognize surrogacy as a means of parenthood while the Centre will not allow the babies to be taken back as Indian citizens.
As per the surrogacy agreement between the German couple and the Gujarati mother, the Anand municipality registered the twins as children of the foreign citizens, entitling the parents to get travel documents for the babies.
But realizing that German laws would not allow the twins, born out of surrogacy, to be treated as German citizens, their father Jan Balaz moved the Gujarat high court, seeking Indian citizenship. The HC ruled in his favour, saying, “since the surrogate mother is an Indian national, therefore, the surrogate children will also be treated as Indian nationals and entitled to Indian passports”.