Kerala High Court permits couple to continue IVF beyond ART age limit

The Kerala High Court has allowed a married couple to continue in-vitro fertilisation treatment even though one partner had crossed the age limit prescribed by India’s Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021. Justice Harisankar V. Menon said the petitioners were willing to undergo the treatment while accepting any liability connected with it.

The couple, aged 50 and 49, had begun IVF treatment in 2023. The Central Government argued that the ART Act’s provisions could not be diluted. It said the facility could not be provided because one of the petitioners had crossed the statutory age limit.

The court noted that the Punjab and Haryana High Court had extended similar treatment to another couple. It held that the Kerala petitioners should receive the same benefit if they furnished an undertaking to the Kerala State Art and Surrogacy Board. The court therefore directed Sabine Hospitals in Muvattupuzha to provide the ART services after the couple produced a notarised copy of the undertaking.

The order permits the treatment under a specific condition rather than setting aside the age provisions of the ART Act. The supplied material does not identify which member of the couple had crossed the limit or give further details about the medical treatment. The case places the court’s decision alongside the statutory restrictions cited by the Central Government.

The ruling allows the couple to proceed after accepting liability and completing the required formal process before the state board. The decision was reported on October 1, 2026. It concerns access to assisted reproductive treatment and the application of the 2021 law to a couple whose treatment had already begun before the court’s intervention.