Why in the News
Police in Hyderabad have reportedly rescued 43 women from an alleged egg donation trafficking network linked to 23 in vitro fertilisation (IVF) centres. The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 bars such brokers on paper, but public records show little sign of enforcement.
What does the ART Act promise egg donors?
- What the Act is: The Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) law licenses the chain that supplies eggs and sperm to fertility clinics. It works like a drug licence: only registered entities may handle the supply.
- Banks screen, clinics buy: Only registered ART banks may screen donors and supply them to clinics (Section 27). Clinics must take gametes, meaning eggs and sperm, only from those banks (Section 21(b)).
- Once in a lifetime: A woman may donate eggs only once in her life, and only between the ages of 23 and 35.
- No middlemen: Section 33 bars medical practitioners from using intermediaries to find donors, with fines and, for repeat offences, prison.
- The takeaway: The law treats brokers as the core risk, so it works only if clinics and banks are checked before women are harmed.
What do the trafficking cases reveal?
- Hyderabad network: Women from several States were promised Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 per cycle. Police seized Humog HP 150 IU, a drug that makes the ovaries release several eggs at once.
- Erode, 2022: A 16 year old alleged her family forced her to sell eggs for four years.
- Varanasi, 2023: A 17 year old was taken to an IVF centre on a tampered Aadhaar card.
- Common pattern: In each case, brokers recruited economically vulnerable women using falsified documents. Facilities did not check how donors were recruited.
Why does the trade persist under the law?
- Demand gap: Demand for donor eggs far exceeds the pool of women legally eligible to donate, leaving room for brokers.
- Unregistered clinics: The National ART and Surrogacy Registry, where clinics and banks must enrol, lists only a fraction of clinics. An academic estimate puts the real number at about 40,000.
- Silent records: The Department of Health Research (DHR) 2025-26 annual report is silent on inspections, violations and prosecutions. The DHR’s system to collect donor data has only been piloted.
Where does accountability break down?
- Registry as safeguard: ART banks must log every donor on the National Registry, so the same woman cannot donate again. That safeguard failed in Erode.
- Boards hold the key: Courts can act on offences only on complaints by the Act’s regulators, the National or State Boards (Section 35). Enforcement rests on these Boards.
- Missing annual reports: Rule 5 of the ART Rules, 2022 requires the Boards to file annual reports, yet the DHR report carries nothing from the National Board.
- Raids, not inspections: All three cases surfaced through police raids or complaints, so a few agents are arrested and the clinics keep operating.
Challenges
- Unregistered sector: Most clinics operate outside the Registry and its inspections.
- Complaint bottleneck: Only the Boards can set a prosecution in motion, so their inaction stalls every case.
- Interstate recruitment: Brokers move women across State lines, beyond the reach of any single State Board.
Way Forward
- Publish Board reports: The Union Health Ministry should publish the Boards’ annual reports.
- State disclosure: States should disclose inspections, suspensions, complaints and violations.
- Women as witnesses: Treat recruited women as witnesses, with independent medical care and the 12 month health insurance Section 22(1)(b) requires.
- Verify donor registers: Inspect donor registers and hold clinics accountable for gaps.
Conclusion
India’s egg donation law is strong on paper, but its enforcement rests on Boards and a Registry with no public record of working. Whether Board reports and State inspection data are published is what to watch.
Key numbers
- Retrieval cap: At most seven eggs may be retrieved from a donor (ART Act, 2021).
- Broker penalty: First offence, Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh fine; repeat, three to eight years’ prison and Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh fine.
- Registry count: 4,726 clinics and 940 ART banks registered (31 October 2026).
About Assisted Reproductive Technology in India
- What ART covers: Techniques that achieve pregnancy by handling eggs or sperm outside the body, such as IVF and gamete donation.
- Before the Act: Clinics ran on the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines of 2005, which had no legal force.
- Companion law: The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 permits only altruistic surrogacy, and its National Board doubles as the ART Act’s National Board.
Matching Previous Year Question
“No direct PYQ traced in the provided files. Thematic PYQ: [2024, GS2, 15 marks] In a crucial domain like the public healthcare system, the Indian State should play a vital role to contain the adverse impact of marketisation of the system. Suggest some measures through which the State can enhance the reach of public healthcare at the grassroots level.”
