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The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Centre, the Health Ministry, and the National Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Board to respond to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) questioning the ban on adoption of pre-existing frozen embryos under the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021.
A Division Bench of Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Tejas Karia directed the Union government to file its reply within six weeks. The case has been listed for further hearing on April 27. Senior Advocate Menaka Guruswamy appeared for the petitioner, while the PIL was filed through advocate Mohini Priya. The PIL has been filed by IVF specialist Dr Aniruddha Narayan Malpani, who has challenged Sections 25(2), 27(5), 28(2), 29 and Rule 13(1)(a) of the ART Act, 2021. According to the petition, these provisions stop even voluntary and consent-based donation of frozen embryos by one infertile couple to another infertile couple. The plea states that this complete ban treats infertile couples unfairly. While the law allows couples to use double-donor IVF where neither parent has a genetic link with the child, it does not allow embryo adoption, even though both options lead to the same result. The petition argues that this difference has no reasonable basis and violates the right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution. It further says that embryo adoption is essentially the same as double-donor IVF, as the child has no genetic connection with the donors and full parenthood lies with the receiving couple. Denying embryo adoption, despite similar medical, ethical and legal safeguards, is described as arbitrary and unconstitutional. The petitioner has also relied on Article 21 of the Constitution, arguing that the right to choose whether to have a child is part of the right to life, dignity, privacy and personal freedom. Blocking access to a medically accepted and ethically regulated reproductive option, without strong public interest reasons, is said to interfere with reproductive freedom and cause serious emotional and mental distress to infertile couples. The plea further explains that the ART Act and the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, were enacted to prevent exploitation and commercial misuse of reproductive technologies. Embryo adoption, however, does not involve surrogacy, a commissioning couple, or any third-party pregnancy. The woman adopting the embryo carries the pregnancy herself and takes full legal and parental responsibility from the beginning. (ANI)
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