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The Delhi Excessive Court docket on Wednesday (January 28, 2026) issued a discover to the central authorities searching for its stand on a public curiosity litigation (PIL) difficult the blanket ban on frozen embryo adoption.
A bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Kalia issued the discover to the Heart whereas listening to a PIL filed by IVF specialist Dr Aniruddha Narayan Malpani difficult Sections 25(2), 27(5), 28(2), 29 of the Assisted Reproductive Know-how (Regulation) Act, 2021 and Part 13(1)(a) of the Assisted Reproductive Know-how Act, 2021. Reproductive Know-how (Regulation) Rules.
The petition states {that a} full ban on embryo adoption would lead to unequal and discriminatory remedy amongst equally located infertile {couples}, even when the adoption is altruistic, voluntary, and consensual.
It added that though embryo adoption is just not outlined within the regulation, it refers back to the course of by which cryopreserved embryos created by in vitro fertilization (IVF) by one individual or couple are voluntarily donated to a different lady or couple for being pregnant and delivery.
The petition argued that fetal adoption is conceptually indistinguishable from baby adoption. Moreover, banning fetal adoption whereas permitting toddler adoption violated Article 14 of the Structure and created an irrational and clearly arbitrary classification primarily based solely on developmental stage.
The PIL added that the appropriate to make reproductive decisions, together with the choice to have kids, is an important facet of the appropriate to life, dignity, autonomy and privateness assured below Article 21 of the Structure. A public listening to on this situation is scheduled for subsequent April.
