Bombay High Court asks if woman with intellectual disability has no right to become mother

Thu Jan 09 05:52:32 UTC 2025: ## Bombay High Court Challenges Denial of Motherhood Based on Intellectual Disability

**Mumbai, January 9, 2025** – The Bombay High Court raised serious questions Wednesday about denying motherhood to a woman with borderline intellectual disability. The court is hearing a petition filed by the father of a 27-year-old woman, seeking to terminate her 21-week pregnancy. He argued his daughter, who is unmarried, is mentally unsound.

However, a medical board examination revealed the woman possesses borderline intellectual disability with an IQ of 75%, but is not mentally ill. The board also reported the fetus is healthy and the woman is physically fit to continue the pregnancy, although termination remains an option.

The court criticized the parents for failing to provide psychological counselling or treatment beyond medication since 2011. Justice R. V. Ghuge and Justice Rajesh Patil questioned whether below-average intelligence should preclude motherhood, asserting such a stance would be unlawful. They cited the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, noting that termination beyond 20 weeks is permitted only for mentally ill women, a condition not met in this case.

The court learned the woman has identified the father of her child. The judges urged the parents to engage with him, suggesting marriage as a potential solution. They emphasized the parents’ responsibility to support their adopted daughter, who was taken in at five months old. The case has been adjourned until January 13, 2025.