New Delhi, India

Last week, the Delhi High Court allowed the parents of a cancer patient to have access to his preserved semen, ruling that there is no legal barrier to using the sperm for reproduction after death, as long as the donor’s consent is confirmed. The court also said that in such cases, no spouse must be involved.

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Justice Prathiba Singh, referencing the Hindu Succession Act ruled that parents are entitled to their deceased son's sperm as they are “Class-1 legal heirs.”

In June 2020, Preet Inder Singh, 30 was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and had his semen frozen before undergoing chemotherapy, which could had consequences on his fertility, the Indian Express reported.

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Interestingly, the Delhi High Court concluded that reproductive material, like a semen sample, constitutes “property” or “an estate.”

The frozen semen of Preet was preserved at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Rajinder Nagar, Delhi. The court asked the hospital authorities to release the cancer victim’s semen sample to his parents, after he passed away on 1 September 2020. Later that year in December, his parents Gurvinder Singh and Harbir Kaur requested the hospital to release the preserved sample to them.

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When the parents failed to retrieve the sample from the hospital, they moved to the Delhi High Court in 2021, represented by senior advocate Suruhii Aggarwal and advocate Gurmeet Singh. The parents along with their two daughters expressed to take full responsibility for any child born via surrogacy using the frozen sample.

Meanwhile, the hospital represented by advocate Anurag Bindal argued that the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act 2021 lacks statutory guidelines for the disposal or use of semen samples from an unmarried individual.

Justice Prathiba Singh, while granting the parents' request said that Preet had given explicit consent for the preservation of his semen sample.

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He wanted to freeze his semen for fertility preservation, indicating that it was intended for future procreation or the possibility of having children.

"When he passed away, the parents being the heirs of the deceased, and semen samples being genetic material and constituting property, the parents are entitled to release of the same," the bench wrote in its 84-page verdict.

The High Court referenced the Hindu Succession Act in its case, stating that parents have the right to access their deceased son’s sperm, considering it as biological material belonging to him. 

The Act specifies that in the absence of a spouse or children, parents are classified as Class-1 legal heirs.

(With inputs from agencies)