A group of 22 women have moved the Madras High Court claiming that certain provisions of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 are unscientific and must, therefore, be revised.
On Friday, a bench of acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Krishnakumar heard the plea and directed the petitioners to submit "scientific evidence" to prove their claims.
In their plea filed through advocates Puroshothaman and Mohini Priya, the women have specifically challenged Sections 21(b) and Section 27 of the ART Act that pertain to special banks to store and supply sperm and oocytes, and with the procedure and rules for collection of such gametes.
Section 21(b) mandates that all IVF and Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) clinics shall obtain donor gametes only from such registered banks and prescribes a set of health screenings for the donors.
Section 27 of the Act prescribes age limits for donors and mandates, among other things, that an oocyte donor shall donate oocytes only once in her lifetime and a set of retrieved oocytes must be used only for a single commissioning couple.
It states that surplus or unused oocyte of a donor must be used only for research purposes and not be given to another couple.
The petitioners, however, claimed that such restrictions were "unscientific, unreasonable, and not in consonance with ICMR guidelines and international best practices."
The plea claimed that most developing countries permit a donor to donate oocytes atleast for six cycles in her lifetime.
Imposing such restriction breaches a woman's reproductive autonomy, it was submitted.
The petitioners also said that the prescribed registered gamete banks were yet to be set up across the country and, therefore, several IVF and ART procedures remain stalled.
The ART Act allows only altruistic donations of gametes.
However, the petitioner women have also sought that donors should be entitled to some monetary compensation.
Advocate Priya said that the petitioners are representing around 150 women seeking such changes in the Act. The Court will hear the plea again in January next year.
A petition is also pending before the Kerala High Court challenging the upper age limit of 50 for females and 55 for males fixed under Section 21(g) of the ART Act.