The Parliament on 18th December 2021 has received the assent of the President on the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021. An Act for the regulation and supervision of the assisted reproductive technology clinics and the assisted reproductive technology banks, prevention of misuse, safe and ethical practice of assisted reproductive technology services for addressing the issues of reproductive health where assisted reproductive technology is required for becoming a parent or for freezing gametes, embryos, embryonic tissues for further use due to infertility, disease or social or medical concerns and for regulation and supervision of research and development and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Under the Act, every assisted reproductive technology (ART) clinic and bank must be registered under the National Registry of Banks and Clinics of India. The Registry is meant to act as a central database for all facilities providing ART services in India, with state governments appointing relevant authorities in their respective states to facilitate the registration process.
The Registration must be renewed every five years and may be cancelled or suspended if an entity contravenes the provisions of the Act.
The clinics and banks shall perform the following duties, namely:—
- the clinics and banks shall ensure that commissioning couple, woman and donors of gametes are eligible to avail the assisted reproductive technology procedures subject to such criteria as may be prescribed;
- the clinics shall obtain donor gametes from the banks and such banks shall ensure that the donor has been medically tested for such diseases as may be prescribed;
- the clinics shall make commissioning couple or woman, aware of the rights of a child born through the use of assisted reproductive technology;
- every clinic and every bank shall maintain a grievance cell in respect of matters relating to such clinics and banks and the manner of making a compliant before such grievance cell shall be such as may be prescribed;
- the clinics shall issue to the commissioning couple or woman a discharge certificate stating details of the assisted reproductive technology procedure performed on the commissioning couple or woman.
