In trying to solve one problem, the government often creates another. The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act of 2021, a national law that came into force in January 2022, is one such example.
Its intentions are honourable, but in practice it has ended up defeating the very purpose for which it was enacted. An illegal network recently busted in Hyderabad, which was exploiting women to harvest their eggs for commercial in-vitro fertilisation, has once again revealed why.
In this case, 43 poor women, mostly from West Bengal, Odisha and Chhattisgarh, had been brought to the Telangana capital by a gang that housed them in hostels with the promise of Rs 20,000-30,000 payment for one egg donation cycle.
They were administered hormone injections without the mandatory insurance cover. Nine culprits have been arrested so far and notices slapped on 14 fertility clinics, hospitals and egg banks. A similar racket was busted in Maharashtra’s Badlapur last month.
The ART Act, which seeks to facilitate safe procedures and prevent commercial exploitation of women, covers children’s rights and age caps for commissioning couples. But the major problem is in provisions regarding the donor.
The woman donating eggs must be married and be aged 23-35, should have had at least one child, and provide a maximum of seven oocytes only once in her lifetime. All this aids the cause of safety. But the mandate that the donor should be motivated purely by altruism fails the reality test when the supply is nowhere near the ever-increasing demand.
Juxtapose this with delayed parenthood, declining fertility and the burgeoning IVF industry, which is estimated to be around Rs 12,000 crore and is projected to double in five years.
The black market is also massive by all counts. So it is no wonder that the poor are being preyed upon. A number of petitions challenging the Act are pending at the Supreme Court. But instead of waiting for its orders, the government ought to revisit the law. It could draw lessons from Spain.
While making a provision for compensation, the European nation has created a mechanism for tracking donors. We do not have a foolproof system to find donors and enforce the Act. An idealistic law looks fine on paper; but as the saying goes, the road to perdition is paved with good intentions.