New Delhi, August 25:
Baby Manji, the surrogate child born of a Japanese couple, might never be united with her biological father going by the current laws of the land.
Manji was abandoned by her surrogate mother when she was just nine days old in a Jaipur hospital in New Delhi as her Japanese parents separated before birth.

Indian law does not allow her father to adopt her as a single male parent cannot adopt a female child, Central Adoption Research Authority (CARA) Chairperson J K Mittal said.

Soon after she was abandoned, Manji's paternal grandmother came over to look after her. But in a twist of law even she cann’t adopt Manji as the law says that only a couple whose combined age is of 70 years can adopt a child.

The only option is that any other couple from the country adopts the child, Mittal said. In fact, even if Manji's biological father remarries, he will not be able to adopt her as he would be behind in a long queue of prospective adoptive parents. According to Mittal, the new guidelines for adoption within and outside the country, which are currently being formulated would provide fresh provisions on this. The new guidelines are likely to be implemented from January one, next year. The girl's Japanese mother does not want to keep her. But her ex-husband Ikufumi Yamada does.

Manji was issued a birth certificate. The certificate, with Manji's father Yamada's name on it, might hasten the process of securing a temporary passport for the baby from the Japanese embassy, facilitating her travel to her native country. The baby got caught in a legal wrangle after she was delivered by her surrogate mother in Anand, Gujarat on July 25. Her father Ikufumi got separated with his wife Yuki before her birth and Yuki subsequently disowned the child.

Meanwhile, the Rajasthan High Court issued notices to the Centre and the state government to produce surrogate child Manji before it within four weeks.A Division Bench comprising Justice R C Gandhi and Justice Guman Singh issued the notices on a habeas corpus petition filed by SATYA, a Jaipur-based NGO. The petition said in the absence of a surrogacy law in the country, the legitimacy of the baby cann’t be claimed by anyone. Therefore, entrusting child's custody to her so-called grandmother Emiko could not be termed legal as neither the surrogate mother, an Indian, nor the sperm-donor father, a Japanese, had tried to take possession of the girl, it said. The petition alleged the surrogate mother had rented her womb without any affection for the family.

It was purely an agreement on financial terms which meant getting a huge sum of money for "illegitimate" conception, the petition said. The baby got caught in a legal wrangle after she was delivered by her surrogate mother in Anand, Gujarat on July 25. Her father Ikufumi got separated with his wife Yuki before her birth and Yuki subsequently disowned the child. Meanwhile, the Rajasthan High Court issued notices to the Centre and the state government to produce surrogate child Manji before it within four weeks. A Division Bench comprising Justice R C Gandhi and Justice Guman Singh issued the notices on a habeas corpus petition filed by SATYA, a Jaipur-based NGO.

The petition said in the absence of a surrogacy law in the country, the legitimacy of the baby couldn’t be claimed by anyone. Therefore, entrusting child's custody to her so-called grandmother Emiko could not be termed legal as neither the surrogate mother, an Indian, nor the sperm-donor father, a Japanese, had tried to take possession of the girl, it said. The petition alleged the surrogate mother had rented her womb without any affection for the family. It was purely an agreement on financial terms which meant getting a huge sum of money for "illegitimate" conception, the petition said