Bill Aims to Weed Out Rent-a-Womb Clinics

NEW DELHI: India is all set to weed out and check the ever mushrooming clinics involved in renting a womb or carrying out Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).

The Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, prepared by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), will make it mandatory for all clinics involved in treating infertility through procedures like artificial insemination with husband's semen (AIH) or in-vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF) to get registered in the country's maiden National Registry of ART clinics.

All clinics will require a registration number to operate which they will receive only after they meet "the minimum requirements". A meeting of the ICMR's ART expert committee will be held on Friday to finalize the format that will check ART clinics for compliance with norms.

ICMR officials said, "All ART clinics will now be checked for whether they are complying with the ART Bill regulations and the authenticity of their treatments. It will become mandatory to register with the ART registry once the Bill is cleared by Parliament."

Experts said all clinics practicing techniques such as Artificial Insemination with Donor...