Fertility clinics to come under government scanner

Panel set up to help rein in ART centres to ensure women are not exploited, work out norms to bring IVF centres under PC-PNDT Act

Fertility clinics that help conduct surrogacy are all set to come under the scanner, with the state setting up a 10-member committee to study issues related to it. Such centres would also be brought under the ambit of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act, T C Benjamin, Additional Chief Secretary (health) told The Indian Express.

The focus of the committee will be on introducing a legislation that aims to regulate the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) centres to check that women are not discriminated against. It has been found that many young unmarried women are being lured to rent their womb in lieu of money. "Though a boon, surrogacy is also leading to the exploitation of women, mostly due to its commercial nature of usage without a proper regulatory framework," Benjamin said.

However, along with the regulation for ART centres, experts will also work out a schedule where tabs will be kept on In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) centres so that the technology is not misused at the level of conception in the laboratory. "At the pre-conception level also, there is a possibility that the technology can be misused to determine the sex of the child. It can be a backdoor way of ensuring that the offspring is male," Benjamin said.

"We cannot rule out this possibility and hence the fertility centres will be brought under the PC-PNDT Act," he added.

The Act covers four types of health centres — genetic counselling, laboratories, genetic clinics and imaging centres. At present, IVF centres do not come under the Act. Dr P K Shah, president of the Federation of Gynaecological and Obstetric Surgeons of India and member of the committee, said the government had proposed a regulatory draft Bill on surrogacy. "We have held a meeting and will discuss the pros and cons of bringing these ART centres under the ambit of the PC-PNDT act as well," he said.

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