Include names of woman’s foster parents in birth certificate: HC

Madurai: Dignity and the right to construct one's own identity with reference to gender, familial and societal contexts is part of the right to privacy, Madras high court observed while granting relief to a woman who sought to include the names of her foster parents in her birth certificate without removing the names of her biological parents.The court was hearing a petition filed by a woman from Madurai, who is pursuing a UG degree. The petitioner stated that she was born in 2005. After her father passed away in 2006, her mother also deserted her. Her paternal uncle and his wife (aunt) raised her as their own daughter. The petitioner stated that in all her identity-related documents, her uncle and aunt's names are mentioned as parents' names. However, in the birth certificate alone, the biological parents' names are mentioned. This has affected her right to be known as the daughter of her uncle and aunt and it also leads to serious prejudice to her education and career as well.Therefore, the petitioner made an application to include the names of her uncle and aunt as her father and mother in the birth certificate. However, the same was rejected on the ground that the petitioner should be validly adopted as per the provisions of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956. Challenging the order, the petitioner moved court.The woman's counsel submitted that she did not seek to remove the names of the biological parents, but to include the names of her uncle and aunt as well. Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy observed that the petitioner is not praying for proprietary rights in the foster family. She wants to be known as their daughter. The same would be within her fundamental right. This apart, her identity itself will be disputed and her education and career will be jeopardised since the names of her parents in all other certificates and birth certificate are different.The judge observed that there is not only an obligation on the state to respect the child's right to preserve her identity, but there is also an obligation to provide appropriate assistance. Hence, the judge directed the petitioner to file notarised affidavits of her uncle and aunt, consenting to their names being added to the birth certificate of the petitioner with the suffix ‘foster'. Upon filing such affidavits, the chief registrar of births and deaths, shall also include the names of the uncle and aunt in the appropriate columns, the judge directed.