In a significant ruling, Gujarat High Court allowed a woman’s plea to store the sperm of her husband who is in critical condition due to Covid-19. The hospital has informed the family of the patient that the 29-year old may not live for more than one day. He was suffering from multi-organ failure.
She wanted to conceive his child through IVF/ART procedure but the husband was not in a condition to give his consent. Justice Ashutosh J. Shastri, in view of extraordinary circumstances of the condition of the husband, issued the directions to a hospital in Vadodara.
Following the Tuesday evening HC order, the hospital authorities informed that doctors successfully extracted the sperm of the patient on Tuesday night.
“The patient’s family decided to carry out the procedure. But we needed the consent of the individual on whom the process is to be carried out. Since he is critical and cannot give his consent, we could do so only if the court allowed,” said Anil Nambiar, zonal director at Sterling Hospitals
Consent Mandatory
Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill stipulates that no man’s sperm can be obtained without his consent. The ART Bill, 2020 is still pending. The bill aims at regulating ART banks and clinics, allow safe and ethical practice of ARTs and protect women and children from exploitation.
