Rule Banning Use of Donor Gametes
Source: The Hindu
GS II: Governance; GS III: Science and Technology
Overview
- News in Brief
- What was the Rule?
- What are Gamets?
Why in the News?
The Supreme Court has protected the right of parenthood of a woman, suffering from a rare medical condition, by staying the operation of a law which threatened to wreck her hopes to become a mother through surrogacy.
News in Brief
- The woman has Mayer Rokitansky Kuster Hauser syndrome in which absent ovaries and absent uterus.
- Hence she cannot produce her own eggs/ oocytes.
- However, a government notification on March 14 this year amended the law, banning the use of donor gametes.
- Two judge Bench stayed the operation of the law which threatened to wreck her hopes of becoming a mother.
What was the Rule?
- Intending couples must use their own gametes for surrogacy.
- The petition was filed in the Supreme Court challenging the amendment as a violation of a woman’s right to parenthood.
Argument Against The Amendment
- The amendment contradicted Sections 2(r) and 4 of the Surrogacy Act, 2021, which recognised the situation when a medical condition would require a couple to opt for gestational surrogacy in order to become parents.
- Rule 14(a) of the Surrogacy Rules which listed the medical or congenital conditions owing to which a woman could choose to become a mother through gestational surrogacy.
- The amendment cannot contradict Rule 14(a) which specifically recognises the absence of a uterus or any allied condition as a medical indication necessitating gestational surrogacy.
What are Gamets?
- Gametes are specialized sex cells responsible for sexual reproduction in organisms.
- These cells are produced in the gonads (testes in males and ovaries in females) and are involved in fertilization.
In humans, there are two types of gametes
- Sperm: These are the male gametes produced in the testes. Sperm are small, motile cells that carry genetic material and are typically involved in egg fertilising.
- Egg or Ovum: These are the female gametes produced in the ovaries. Eggs are relatively large cells that also carry genetic material and are involved in the fertilization process upon union with a sperm cell.
During sexual reproduction, a sperm and an egg fuse during fertilization to form a zygote, which contains the combined genetic material of both gametes. This marks the beginning of the development of a new organism.
The Surrogacy (regulation) Act, 2021
Prohibition and regulation of surrogacy clinics
Applicable to: Surrogacy clinic, paediatrician, gynaecologist, embryologist, registered medical practitioner or any person
- No surrogacy clinic, unless registered under this Act.
- Do not conduct or cause abortion during the period of surrogacy without the written consent of the surrogate mother and on authorisation of the same by the appropriate authority concerned.
- Do not store a human embryo or gamete for the purpose of surrogacy
- Any form of conduct or cause to be conducted sex selection for surrogacy is prohibited (Including Couples).
Written informed consent of the surrogate mother
- Explained all known side effects and aftereffects of such procedures to the surrogate mother concerned
- Obtained in the prescribed form, is the written informed consent of the surrogate mother to undergo such procedures in the language she understands.
- The surrogate mother shall have the option to withdraw her consent for surrogacy before the implantation of the human embryo in her womb.
Prohibition to abandon child born through surrogacy
- The intending couple or intending woman shall not abandon the child.
- Whether within India or outside, for any reason whatsoever.
- Including but not restricted to, any genetic defect, birth defect, any other medical condition, the defects developing subsequently, sex of the child or conception of more than one baby and the like.
Rights of Surrogate Child
- A child born out of a surrogacy procedure shall be deemed to be a biological child of the intending couple or intending woman.
- The said child shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges available to a natural child under any law for the time being in force
National Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Board
The Board shall consist of
- Minister in charge of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Chairperson, ex officio
- Secretary to the Government of India in charge of the Department dealing with the surrogacy matter, Vice-Chairperson, ex officio;
- Three women Members of Parliament, of whom two shall be elected by the House of the People and one by the Council of States, Members, ex officio
- Three Members of the Ministries of the Central Government in-charge of Women and Child Development, Legislative Department in the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Ministry of Home Affairs, not below the rank of Joint Secretary, Members, ex officio
- Director General of Health Services of the Central Government, Member, ex officio
- Ten expert Members
- Four Chairpersons of the State Boards
- An officer, not below the rank of a Joint Secretary to the Central Government.
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