Delhi HC seeks Centre'€™s stand on plea against 'blanket ban' on embryo adoption

New Delhi, Jan 28 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the Centre's stand on a petition challenging the "blanket prohibition" on the donation of pre-existing frozen embryos for adoption by another infertile couple.

A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia issued notice to the central government on the petition by Dr Aniruddha Narayan Malpani assailing sections 25(2), 27(5), 28(2), 29, and Rule 13(1)(a) of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act.

The petition said the "blanket prohibition" on embryo adoption, even when altruistic, voluntary, and consensual, resulted in unequal and discriminatory treatment between similarly placed infertile couples.

It explained that although embryo adoption was not defined under the law, it referred to the process in which a cryo-preserved embryo, created through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) by one individual or couple, was voluntarily donated to another woman or couple for gestation and childbirth.

The process, the petition added, had two interrelated stages, i.e. the donation of surplus embryos by the genetic parents who no longer required them, and the transfer and gestation of such embryos to another couple to facilitate the creation of a family.

The petition argued that embryo adoption was conceptually indistinguishable from child adoption and to prohibit embryo adoption while permitting child adoption created an unreasonable and manifestly arbitrary classification based solely on developmental stage, in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution.

The right to make reproductive choices, including the decision to have a child, is an integral facet of the right to life, dignity, autonomy, and privacy guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, argued the plea.

The matter will be heard next in April. PTI ADS APL APL