Regulations For IVF Clinics In India.
In our earlier post on success stories of test tube babies, we had raised the concern about use of ART to conceive at any age beyond 50. Simply because it is against the guidelines, and as doctors, we believe it may be detrimental for the welfare of the child when he or she grows up. Reiterating the point, that after the age of 50, test tube baby centers must not use artificial reproductive technology (ART); it is not advised.
The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021 and the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act 2021 aim to regulate in vitro fertilisation (IVF) clinics and prohibit commercial surrogacy in India.
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We totally agree with Dr Sudha Prasad, Head of Reproductive medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College, when she says:
“There are more than 3,000 IVF centres, and without the proper guidelines we do not know which person is doing what and how to correct and catch them. We have reached a stage where a 98-year old person is delivering a baby through surrogacy; and an actor just got a baby through surrogacy,”
Importance Of Regulation For Test Tube Baby Centres
- Unscrupulous ivf centers sprouting up in the country
- Gullible people being exploited with misinformation and unnecessarily costly treatment
- Unethical practices like women being inserted with five embryos
- High success rates being claimed to lure patients
- To increase success rates, unethical clinics exchanging samples of sperms, eggs, embryos
- Selling of embryos without the respective patients’ knowledge
- Publishing pictures of patients to gain more clients
- Not maintaining correct records of number of embryos, number of eggs, their quality, etc.
Citing the Surrogacy Act, which governs surrogacy in India, it ensures the welfare of the unborn child and the surrogate mother. It also benefits the entire surrogacy ecosystem. In spite of that, there are instances of unethical behaviour, as the act forbids commercial surrogacy and requires that the surrogate be a family member of the couple. But in some cases, finding a relative or well-known person to perform surrogacy can be a difficult process for couples. Hence there’s a growing demand from the industry, for clear guidance on how to proceed with existing therapy in the absence of infrastructure or any designated authority.
But then again, the concerns of unethical practices are clear. A United Nations study conducted in 2012 mentioned the Indian market for surrogacy was around $400 million; though many insiders claim the actual figures to be much higher. And today, surrogacy as a business has flourished in India, with estimates ranging to many thousands of crores. So one can imagine, the plight of the many women and childless couples who are daily lured into this market for unethical gains by unscrupulous people.
Hence, it is time to have transparency in artificial reproductive technology clinics so as to prevent unethical practices from occurring in the future.
