Chances for return of embryos brighten for 2 foreign couples

Chances brightened for two US-based couples seeking return of their frozen embryos lying in a city hospital with the government saying their plea may be considered if they get a nod from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
The hospital had refused to return them their embryos citing Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2016 which bans surrogacy for foreign couples in India.
Being aggrieved, the two couples had moved the Bombay High Court which had asked the Centre in 2016 to decide on their plea.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under the Union Commerce Ministry has now written a letter to the couples that they would have to obtain a no objection certificate from ICMR in case they wanted back their embryos.

"We have received such a letter from DGFT and would act accordingly," said their lawyer Vikrant Sabane.
The high court had earlier directed the Centre to explain why there was delay in taking such a decision despite repeated representations from the couples. In view of the new surrogacy rules, the court had also suggested to the Centre to "make an exception" on humanitarian grounds and take a reasonable and swift decision.

The court was hearing a plea filed by two San Francisco couples who came to India in 2015 looking for a surrogate, after they failed to conceive a child biologically.

The couples had brought eight frozen embryos, found surrogates and entered into a written contract with them, according to the rules in place at the time.
Before the embryos could be 'implanted' into the surrogates' wombs through IVF, the surrogacy rules in India changed with the introduction of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016.
The rule now allows only 'altruistic' surrogacy for childless Indian couples who have been married for at least five years. It also mandates that the surrogate mother be a "close relative" of the couple. Also, there is also a ban on import and export of frozen embryos, says their petition in the Bombay High Court.

The matter is expected to come up for hearing in due course.