The state government has invited suggestions on regulation of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), In Vitro Fertility (IVF) centres and surrogate mothers.
The state government has invited suggestions on regulation of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), In Vitro Fertility (IVF) centres and surrogate mothers. In a primary meeting held at Mantralaya chaired by public health minister Dr Deepak Sawant, the existing laws and Union law for surrogacy was reviewed in the presence of expert doctors across Mumbai. It was also decided to invite suggestions to strengthen Union laws on surrogacy.
In view of the new ART, IVF centres coming up across Maharashtra and the need to regulate their establishments, procedures and surrogacy, the state government has invited suggestions from both the government and private centres to strengthen the existing laws.
Dr Sawant said that these days anybody is opening up ART and IVF centres and there is no regulation on it. At present, the Mumbai Nursing Home Act and Clinical Establishment Act cover the regulation of the ART and IVF centres.
Stating that although there is a central law in place regarding IVF and surrogate mothers, Dr Sawant added that the centre has always welcomed worthy suggestions from Maharashtra. The Centre has, in the past, adopted the PCPNDT Act, which bans pre-natal diagnostic tests.
Dr Sawant said that there needs to be regulation on the area of the centre, the equipment it uses, the IVF procedures it adopts, the guidelines it needs to follow for registration, what protocol it needs to adopt and the para-medical staff. Besides these, there also needs to be a check on the doctors and their qualifications.
At present, there are about 525 ART and IVF centres in the state, out of which 120 are in Mumbai, 135 in Pune, 70 in Nagpur, 14 in Nashik, 17 in Satara, 16 in Aurangabad and two in Beed. Dr Sawant said that ART and IVF centres follow 21 procedures and have to fill up form F before starting the procedures.
Speaking about surrogacy laws, he said the government needs to ensure that the surrogate mothers are not exploited for monetary considerations. The government also wants to ensure that the mother should be medically certified as infertile before the couple can opt for ART or IVF procedure.
