Consider German couple's plea for adoption: SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) to consider as a one-time measure the plea of a German couple for adoption of twins born through a surrogate Indian mother.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) to consider as a one-time measure the plea of a German couple for adoption of twins born through a surrogate Indian mother.

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A bench of Justices GS Singhvi and Asok Kumar Ganguly granted four weeks to the agency to explore the possibility to help the German couple John Balaz and his wife on humanitarian grounds.

The apex court passed the direction after the couple told the Bench that they were willing to go for an inter-country adoption as surrogacy is a punishable offence in their country.

The court had earlier on February 25 asked the CARA of Union Women and Child Welfare Ministry to consider grant of adoption rights as a 'special case' to the German couple.

The court had passed the direction after the counsel for the union government told the bench that under the existing rules, the German couple cannot be granted adoption rights as such a privilege is available only if the children are abandoned by the biological parents.

In the present case, the government said the children were born through a surrogate mother and there was no provision under the law for inter-country adoption for children. It however, offered to examine the plea for adoption of the German couple as a special case provided it was not treated as a precedent.