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Gujarat HC grants wife’s plea to collect sperm of COVID-19 critical husband

The woman had filed a plea with the Gujarat HC after being informed by doctors treating her husband that he “may not survive beyond 24 hours”.

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Representative image. Courtesy: Mufid Majnun/ Unsplash
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On Wednesday, privately-run Sterling Hospital in Vadodara collected and preserved the sperm of a 32-year-old patient critical with COVID-19, after Gujarat High Court granted the plea of his wife. The woman had filed a petition to bear her dying husband’s child through Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).

The husband, hospitalized since May 10 with a COVID-19 infection, had suffered multiple organ failure and has been on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support.

The woman had filed her plea after being informed by the doctors treating her husband that he “may not survive beyond 24 hours”, as reported by the Indian Express. The couple got married 8 months ago.

The wife and the parents of the patient sought an urgent hearing on July 20.

As per the petition, the family had asked the hospital to collect the sperm earlier but the authorities had informed that a court order was required as the patient was unconscious and, hence, not capable of giving consent. The wife’s counsel had argued that the verbal refusal by the hospital authorities was in violation of the rights of the wife.

The court agreed that it was “almost impossible” to get informed consent from the patient and thus directed the hospital to “conduct IVF/ART procedure for collection of samples from the body of (the patient)” in lieu of the “extraordinary circumstance.” The court also said that the “said sample shall be stored at an appropriate place as per the medical advice”.

The Gujarat HC noted that it had granted the “ad interim relief” due to “an extraordinary urgent situation”. It said that the “same shall be subject to the outcome of the petition”, with the matter to be heard next on July 23.

As reported the couple was based in Canada and were married only in October 2020 and had come back to India in March 2021 after the husband’s father developed a serious heart condition.

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