Dear all,
In a bid to clear my confusion, I personally contacted some infertility clinics and ART (Artificial Reproductive Techniques) 'banks' in the last few days. The revelations I came across have stunned me. I am shocked by the incredible gender bias prevalent w.r.t the sperm and ovum donation laws in the country.
According to the codes of ethics laid down by the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research), a woman is eligible for ovum donation only on satisfying ALL of the below criteria:
1. She must be within 35 years of age.
2. She must be married. Some clinics said submitting written consent of her present husband is mandatory, while other clinics waived off that criteria.
3. She must be the biological mother of at least one healthy child. All clinics said evidence of her "proven fertility" is mandatory. They said they can't rely on a childless lady for ovum donation (even if all her medical and hormonal reports are excellent).
4. A woman can't donate eggs for more than 6 times in her entire lifetime.
Criteria for sperm donors:
1. Age no bar (21+).
2. Marital status no bar. Even college-goers are eligible to earn bucks by donating sperms without their parents' consent. Similarly 80-year old grandpa is also eligible for sperm donation without his wife's consent! Men don't need written/verbal consent of their spouse/parents since marital status is no bar here.
3. Fatherhood no bar. Men don't need to "prove" their fertility. They are considered "potent by default"!! So even a childless (read impotent/poorly potent) man is eligible for sperm donation!!
4. A man is eligible to donate his sperms upto 75 times in his lifetime (God knows who will keep their track if they donate in different ART banks).
Dear male readers,
What will you say now? Indian Law still favours the women?
