The extent of human suffering brought on by the pandemic is immeasurable and there are many personal tragedies unfolding across the world. One such story is that of a young Gujarati couple. The husband who was suffering from multi-organ failure after getting the Covid infection and was on a life support system, has very slim chances of survival and his distraught wife is desperate to have his child.
However, when all her pleas to the Vadodara-based hospital for help in her endeavour to conceive through In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF)/Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) procedure fell on deaf ears, the couple had no choice but to approach the Gujarat High Court (HC).
Playing safe, the hospital was not allowing the couple to get the IVF/ART procedure done unless the wife got a court order directing it to collect her husband’s semen sample, her lawyer Nilay Patel said. Hence, she approached the HC with an urgent plea, he said.
Thankfully, the HC understood the urgency and poignancy of the situation and directed the hospital to conduct the IVF/ART procedure for the collection of the semen sample of the critical patient.
Considering it as an “extraordinary urgent situation,” Justice Ashutosh J Shastri directed the hospital to complete the procedure and keep the sample stored in an appropriate place as per medical advice and issued notices to the State Government and the hospital’s director, and sought their response on July 23.
