The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that women who adopt children older than three months cannot be denied maternity leave, affirming that adoptive motherhood carries the same legal and emotional weight as biological parenthood.

The court struck down a provision in the Social Security Code that limited maternity benefits to women adopting children below three months of age, calling it unconstitutional.

The law had granted 12 weeks of maternity leave only in such cases, excluding those who adopt older infants.

A bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan observed that family cannot be defined solely by biological ties.

It emphasised that adoption is an equally valid way of forming a family and that an adopted child must be treated on par with a biological child.

The judges noted that the responsibilities and emotional bonds involved in raising an adopted child are no different, regardless of the child’s age at the time of adoption.

Denying maternity benefits on this basis, the court said, ignores the realities of caregiving and the needs of both mother and child.

Calling maternity protection a fundamental human right, the court held that such benefits must extend to all forms of motherhood, including non-biological ones, ensuring equal support for adoptive parents.

Source: News18