Starting April 22, 2022, all fertility clinics, gamete banks and surrogacy clinics across India will have to commence the process of applying for registration with the National ART and Surrogacy Registry.
The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 and the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 (which, for the sake of convenience, will be collectively referred to as “the new laws”) came into force on January 25, 2022, to regulate the fertility and surrogacy industry in India.
A National ART and Surrogacy Registry has been constituted and operationalised under the new laws, which will serve as a central database of all clinics and banks in the country. All clinics are mandatorily required to make an application for registration on the Registry website and submit it to the relevant appropriate authority for the state by June 21, 2022. It should be noted that as of today, the appropriate authority for each state has not been notified, but it is expected to be notified within the next few days.
At present, the application for registration involves declaration qualified staff, equipment and nature of procedure undertaken.
In future, clinics and banks may have to demonstrate that they meet the minimum standards of physical infrastructure, facilities, laboratory and diagnostic equipment, and specialised manpower for clinics and banks, that may be prescribed by The National Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Board (“Board”). If clinics and banks fail to do so, the application for registration may be rejected. As on date, the Board has not yet been set up, so the minimum standards are yet to be prescribed.
Therefore, it may be pragmatic for fertility clinics, gamete banks and surrogacy clinics to make application for registration on the Registry website without delay to avoid any interruption in business and operations in future.