Can anyone get DNA test done to check paternity, HC asks

The Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday directed the state government to clarify its stand on conducting DNA tests on children to ascertain their paternity.

The Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday directed the state government to clarify its stand on conducting DNA tests on children to ascertain their paternity.

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A division bench of justices BP Dharmadhikari and NR Borkar was hearing a petition filed by a 48-year-old Wadala resident and his 45-year-old wife demanding a DNA test to determine the paternity of their child, who was born through surrogacy at a city hospital on October 15, 2019.

“Can anybody just walk into a forensic science laboratory, pay the requisite fees and get the DNA test done?” the judges said, directing the additional public prosecutor, Kumar Saste, to clarify the state’s stand on the issue within a week.

According to the petition, the couple, married for seven years, opted for surrogacy as the woman was not able to conceive otherwise. The procedure started in January 2019 and three embryos formed from sperms of the 48-year-old businessman and eggs from a donor were inserted into the surrogate mother on February 1. Doctors said October 6 would be the due date.

However, the child was delivered at 2.39pm on October 15. Three days later, when the couple went for a follow-up visit to the doctor, he referred to the baby’s birth time as 12.40pm. When the couple reminded him that they were told the birth time was 2.39pm, the doctor told them he was referring to the birth of the child of a different couple.

The couple had been told that birth of their child was through C-section process and the surrogate mother would remain hospitalised at least for five to six days. However, when the couple stepped out of the doctor’s room, they saw the surrogate mother sitting in the lounge in normal clothes, and not in hospital clothes. In order to clear their doubts, the Wadala resident then checked the birth time of the other couple’s child in the hospital register and was surprised to see it was 8.30am and not 12.40pm.

The couple then sought a direction from the HC to conduct a DNA test to ascertain the paternity of the child.

They also sought directions to register an FIR against the doctor concerned and the hospital, if the DNA test results proved that the child did not share the 48-year-old petitioner’s DNA. Acting on previous orders of the court, the couple has also filed an affidavit stating that they will continue to raise the child as their own and will not let the DNA test results affect their love and affection for the child.