Test Tube Baby: Laws Governing Sperm and Egg Donation For IVF in India

Introduction

Nowadays we can often see news regarding egg and sperm donation. As the society is evolving so as the new generation. Many young boys and girls are willingly donating egg and sperm to the fertility clinics. Even many Bollywood films have also introduced the concept of surrogacy as well as donation of sperm and egg. Women who are physically unable to conceive and to carry a baby, are being really helped through these processes.

             On the other hand, those who are donating their sperms and eggs, are also earning money starting from about Rs. 25,000 up to 75,000 per one-time donation. There are some certain rules and necessities one must follow for donating their sperm or egg.

            Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has regulated certain guidelines to the ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) clinics to safeguard and protect the donors’ lives. The Government should also make laws regarding IVF process because day by day this is a growing process for having babies as a gift we can say and the citizens should be aware on this topic.

           At present, approximately 13 to 19 million couples are trying to have their parenthood but are unable because of being infertile according to a report published by World Health Organization (WHO). Many couples are finding In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) as the most helpful process. We have to gain more knowledge regarding this topic.

Egg Donation

Egg donation is a process where a female willingly (less than 35 years) donates eggs to help another woman to build up a family. Then the eggs are fertilized with the sperms of the donee’s husband which creates an embryo (the earliest form of a baby). The embryo is thereafter inserted into the womb of the donee (the recipient). Approximately, 30 to 40% procedures become successful. Women who do not want babies in their 30’s or 40’s, prefers this procedure for having baby even in their 50’s. In India, the oldest woman to have become pregnant through this procedure is 62 years of age.

Who Can Qualify to Be an Egg Donor?

There are many women who are at present willing to donate their eggs, but surely there are some essentials for qualifying as an egg donor. The following are some requisites to become an egg donor:

1. The donor should be more than 21 years and less than 35 years of age.
2. The donor should have sound health both physically and mentally.
3. The donor must have a BMI (Body Mass Index) between 19 to 25 because being overweight or underweight can ruin the quality of eggs.
4. The donor should not have smoked for 12 months before donating eggs.
5. Donor should be tested negative of any kind of STD (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) within the last 12 months.
6. Urine toxicology tests will be conducted during the egg donor screening process to ensure that the donor has no history of consuming drugs.
7. The donor should have regular and normal menstrual cycle.
8. The donor must be free of HIV and Hepatitis B and C infections, hypertension, diabetes or any kind of common genetic disorders.

1. The donor must be willing to go through medical evaluation.
2. The blood group and the Rh status of the donor must be determined and placed on record.

 Egg IVF Procedure

A Donor Egg IVF cycle consists both the egg donor’s cycle and the donee’s cycle. The egg donor’s menstrual cycle is synchronized with the donee’s cycle usually using birth control pills. From day 2 of menses, the recipient starts a prescribed dose of estradiol tablets to prepare her uterus and the donor begins her injections for ovarian stimulation. Once the donor’s follicles are ready, which generally happens in 11-12 days, her egg retrieval procedure is done under anesthesia using ultrasound guidance. The recipient’s partner provides his semen sample on the day of egg retrieval. The gametes are then fertilized in the laboratory. The recipient is started on appropriate luteal support medications. Three to five days later 1 or 2 embryos are transferred into the donee’s uterus under USG guidance[1].

ICMR Guidelines For Egg Donation

1. Clinics which are involved with any treatments involving the use of gametes which have been donated or collected or processed in vitro or any infertility treatment that involves the use and creation of embryos outside the body or the processing or storage of gametes or embryos should be regulated, registered and supervised by the State Accreditation Authority.
2. Any information about clients and donors must be kept confidential. It is the right of the couple undergoing the process and the donor and the above-mentioned authority to decide what information will be passed on to whom, except in the case of a court order.
3. No treatment should be given without a written consent of the couple and the donor. A standard consent form recommended by the accreditation authority should be used by all ART clinics.

Sperm Donation

Sperm donation is a procedure in which a man donates his semen (the fluid containing sperm that is released during ejaculation) to help an individual or a couple to conceive a baby.

Donated sperms can be injected into a woman’s reproductive organs (intrauterine insemination) or used to fertilize mature eggs in a lab (in vitro fertilization). The use of donated sperm is known as third-party reproduction.

A man who makes a sperm donation can be known or anonymous to the recipient. Sperm donations made to a known recipient are called directed donations. The clinics should record the donor’s details. In India, according to the ICMR, a sperm donor should only be approached through a sperm bank.

Who Can Qualify to Be a Sperm Donor?

1. The donor must be more than 21 years and less than 45 years of age.
2. The donor must be tested negative of HIV, Hepatitis B and C infections, hypertension, diabetes, STDs and any other common genetic disorders.

• An analysis must be carried out on the semen of the individual, preferably using a semen analyzer, and the semen must be found to be normal according to WHO method manual for semen analysis, if intended to be used for ART.
• Information regarding the donor such as height, weight, age, educational qualification, profession, family background, or any history of family disorder must be recorded appropriately during the screening of the individual.

Responsibilities of The Clinics

1. It is the duty of the clinics to give adequate details and information to the patients.
2. To maintain records in an appropriate proforma (to be prescribed by the authority) to enable collation by a national body.
3. To keep all information about the donors, couples, recipients confidential and secure. The information about the donor (including a copy of the donor’s DNA fingerprint if available, but excluding information on the name and address) should be released by the ART clinic after appropriate identification, only to the offspring and only if asked by him/her after she/he attains the age of 18 years.
4. The records must be maintained for at least ten years after which the records must be transferred to a central depository to be maintained by the ICMR.

Rights of The Child Born Out of Such Procedures

• A child born through ART shall be presumed to be the legitimate child of the couple, having been born in wedlock and with the consent of both the spouses. Thus, the child shall have legal rights to parental support, inheritance, and all other privileges of a child born to a couple through sexual intercourse.
• Child born through the use of gametes shall not have any right to know the identity of their genetic parent. However, after attaining the age of 18 years, child born out of such procedure can be provided information about the donor if they desire so.

ART Regulation Bill, 2020

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan introduced the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2020 in the Lok Sabha on September 14. Its aim is to regulate ART banks and clinics, allow safe and ethical practice of ARTs and protect women and children from exploitation. This follows the introduction in Parliament of the Surrogacy Regulation Bill,2020, and the approval of Pregnancy Amendment Bill,2020. These legislative measures are path breaking steps to protect women’s reproductive rights.

    The major advantage of the Bill would be that it will regulate Assisted Reproductive Technology services in the country. As a result, infertile couples will be more confident of the ethical practices in ARTs.

Offences and Penalties Mentioned in The Bill

1. Abandoning, or exploiting children who are born through ART.
2. Selling, purchasing, trading or importing the collected human embryos, or gametes.
3. The exploitation of the commissioning couple, woman or the gamete donor in any form.

    These above-mentioned activities would amount to offences and will be punishable with a fine of five lakh rupees which can be extended to ten lakh rupees for the first contravention. For further contravention, punishment will be imprisonment of eight years which can be extended up to twelve years, and with fine between ten to twenty lakh rupees[2].

Conclusion

Donation of sperms and eggs should be normalized in India. People should be more aware of the fact that if both or one of the couples is infertile, then they should not break down and rather adopt ART procedures to conceive a baby. A person who donates eggs or sperms should not be ashamed at all, it is an individual’s pride that he/she was helpful for creation a new life into the world. If the ART Regulation Bill,2020 is approved and commenced, then millions of couples will be happy to have a parenthood comfortably. In a conservative society like India awareness about ART should be widespread and such laws should be implemented for developing the rights of a woman regarding reproduction. And also, these laws should give the donor’s some credit as well as safety through the whole procedure so that more and more young men and women come forward to help another to conceive.

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References

[1] https://www.novaivffertility.com/fertility-help/what-egg-donation

[2] https://blog.ipleaders.in/laws-related-donation-eggs-sperm-india/