Chandigarh, Nov 5: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued a significant ruling on the interpretation of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Act, 2021, clarifying that a woman below 50 years of age can independently access ART services, including In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF), regardless of whether her spouse exceeds the prescribed upper age threshold of 55 years.
Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya, while disposing of six related petitions, observed that the provisions of the ART Act allow services to be utilized either by a couple conjointly or by a woman independently. The court affirmed that a woman’s statutory eligibility remains distinct and is not constrained by her husband’s age, nor does the law mandate that medical clinics can only be accessed jointly.
However, the ruling emphasized that the prescribed age limits—50 years for women and 55 years for men—apply independently. The court noted that if either partner exceeds their respective age threshold, the joint entitlement to receive treatment as a couple ceases. Addressing a petition where a couple sought permission to use embryos frozen prior to the woman turning 50, the bench maintained that initial embryo preservation does not grant an automatic right to initiate subsequent treatment phases after crossing the statutory age ceiling.
