NEW DELHI, June 24: Women government employees can now take 180 days of maternity leave if they have children through surrogacy, following amendments to a 50-year-old rule by the Centre. The amendments also allow the “commissioning mother” (the intending mother of the child born through surrogacy) to take child care leave, and grant 15 days of paternity leave to the “commissioning father.”
According to the changes made to the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, “In case of surrogacy, the surrogate, as well as the commissioning mother with less than two surviving children, may be granted maternity leave of 180 days, if either or both of them are government servants.”
Previously, there were no provisions for granting maternity leave to women government employees for children born through surrogacy.
The new rules state, “In case of a child begotten through surrogacy, the commissioning father who is a male government servant with less than two surviving children may be granted paternity leave of 15 days within the period of 6 months from the date of delivery of the child.”
The amendments also allow the commissioning mother with less than two surviving children to be granted child care leave, as outlined in the Central Civil Services (Leave) (Amendment) Rules, 2024, notified on June 18.
Existing rules permit “a female government servant and single male government servant” to take child care leave for a maximum period of 730 days during their entire service. This leave is for taking care of the two eldest surviving children, whether for rearing or attending to their needs such as education and sickness.
The Personnel Ministry clarified in the amended rules that the “surrogate mother” refers to the woman who bears the child on behalf of the commissioning mother, and the term “commissioning father” refers to the intending father of the child born through surrogacy.
