Indian couple moves Bombay High Court seeking permission to import cryo-preserved embryos from USA to India

The Bombay High Court on Monday issued notice on a plea by a couple seeking directions to the government to allow them to import their own cryo-preserved embryos from United State of America (USA) to India in order to avail the benefit of surrogacy (Meenal Sawant & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors.)..The petitioners submitted in their plea that due to their advancing age and medical complications, they could not procreate through natural means and hence they had availed the facility of cryo-preservation of their embryos with an organisation in USA..They contended that their efforts to convince the Indian authorities to permit them to import their very own preserved embryo failed, prompting them to move the High Court."Every woman has the right to have her own child either naturally or through IVF or through surrogacy. Imposing a ban on having a child is violating the petitioners Fundamental Rights and Constitutional Guarantees," the petition stated. .After hearing Advocate Niteen Pradhan appearing for the couple briefly, the Bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Madhav J Jamdar issued notice to all respondents. The Bench also permitted Dr. Rajalakshmi Walawalkar to attend court on the next hearing date - September 14, 2021 - so that the judges can be assisted on this highly technical subject. .The petitioners had written to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for obtaining clearance for importing frozen embryos from USA to India when they found that ICMR was only issuing No-Objection Certificates for export of gametes or embryos. The petitioners also discovered that guidelines for import of embryos had been finalised by them and sent to the Deputy Director General of Foreign Trade (DFGT) for approval; but in absence of any directions, ICMR claimed they will not be able to issue any NOC. .Upon enquiry with the customs office seeking clarification on the procedure for import of "self-embryo" from USA, they were informed that the import policy had been amended in 2015 by the DGFT. As per the new rules, the import of human embryos was prohibited except for research purposes. .The petitioners contended that the embryos were their property and authorities could not restrain them from utilising their self-created property. "There cannot be a complete ban on the import of embryos, case to case approval mechanism has to be adopted," the plea stated. The plea further emphasised that there cannot be "a dual policy for import and export of embryos". .The petitioners also clarified that the pending bills - Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2019 and Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill 2020 - restrict commercialisation of surrogacy. However, in the present case, the option of surrogacy was being opted only because the wife is unable to undergo pregnancy due to medical reasons. .[Read Order]