’Over 15% of Indians infertile’

That's more than the global average, says ICMR's director general, who's spearheading bill for the regulation of artificial reproductive technology in the Parliament

'Over 15% of Indians infertile'

That's more than the global average, says ICMR's director general, who's spearheading bill for the regulation of artificial reproductive technology in the Parliament

More than 15 per cent of Indians suffer from infertility. And this is more than the global average, the deputy director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), R S Sharma, told MiD DAY yesterday.
u00a0

Sharma is spearheading the bill related to the regulation of artificial reproductive technology (ART), which is overdue in the Parliament.

u00a0
Community survey
u00a0
In view of the lack of any study and to gauge the magnitude of the problem in the country, ICMR, headed by Sharma, is currently running a community-based survey of 13,000 families in 13 states, including Maharashtra.
u00a0
"The survey is not only to find out the count of infertile people in the country, but to assess the magnitude of the problem and how to manage ART if it has to be used at the community level," said Sharma, who was in the city as the key speaker at a seminar on the ART regulation bill at ILS Law College.
u00a0
Responding to a question asked by a student, Sharma said, "The bill covers those couples who cannot conceive and not for fertile couples."

On the issue of whether live-in couples must be allowed to conceive using ART, he said that a couple whether married or not, if facing the problem of infertility, can use ART.
u00a0
The draft

According to Sharma, the draft of the bill says that childbirths that involve couples in live-in relationships should be treated as legal.

"But even if the child of live-in parents becomes legal,u00a0 the parents are bound by laws that govern issues arising out of their separation," he pointed out.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels