High Court allows Cryopreservation of Brain Dead Man’s Gametes on Wife’s plea

The Kerala High Court has permitted the extraction and preservation of the gametes of a man declared brain-dead, acting on an urgent petition filed by his wife seeking to safeguard her chance of having a biological child in the future. Granting interim relief, Justice M. B. Snehalatha authorised the procedure through a licensed Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) facility, while directing that the preserved genetic material cannot be used without further orders of the Court.

The petition was moved after the woman’s husband suffered extensive cerebral venous thrombosis following a chickenpox infection and was medically declared brain-dead while on ventilator support at a hospital. The wife informed the Court that the law governing assisted reproductive procedures ordinarily requires written consent from the individual whose gametes are to be retrieved.

Given her husband’s condition, such consent could not be obtained, and any delay in judicial intervention could eliminate the possibility of preserving his reproductive material. She also submitted that the hospital treating him was equipped with the statutory licence required to perform the extraction and preservation process.

Examining the request, the Court noted the exceptional medical circumstances and the time-sensitive nature of the procedure. At the same time, it placed clear limits on how the preserved material may be used. The Court directed that the hospital may proceed with extraction and cryopreservation through a recognised ART clinic but stressed that “no further procedures under the ART Act, including any use of the preserved gametes, shall be undertaken without the Court’s permission.” 

With these safeguards, the Court granted interim approval and scheduled the matter for further consideration on April 7.

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