Delhi High Court Grants Parents Rights to Deceased Son’s Preserved Semen

The Delhi High Court has ruled in favor of the parents of a young cancer victim, granting them access to their late son’s frozen semen sample. Preet Inder Singh, a 30-year-old, had preserved his sperm before starting chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2020. Tragically, he passed away in September of that year. Singh’s parents sought the release of his semen from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, intending to use it for surrogacy to fulfill their son’s desire for parenthood.

The court ruled that reproductive material, such as sperm, can be treated as "property" under Indian law. Since Singh had explicitly consented to the freezing of his sperm, the court determined that his parents, as Class-1 heirs under the Hindu Succession Act, had the legal right to the material. This ruling also acknowledged that parents, in the absence of a spouse, have the authority to make decisions regarding the use of their deceased child’s reproductive material.

Justice Prathiba Singh highlighted that grandparents can adequately care for a grandchild born through assisted reproductive techniques, such as IVF or surrogacy. This judgment sets an important legal precedent, affirming that posthumous reproduction is permissible under Indian law, provided there is clear consent from the deceased individual.