A husband cannot deny his wife artificial insemination treatment on the grounds of his age limit; High Court.

A husband cannot deny his wife artificial insemination treatment on the grounds that he has exceeded the prescribed age limit, the High Court ruled. The court considered such denial to be discriminatory. Justice C.S. Dias stated that couples should be evaluated together and not individually based on age, and that denying one partner the opportunity due to the other's age limit amounts to discrimination.

The court issued an order allowing a 46-year-old woman from Malappuram to continue infertility treatment using donor sperm.

The ruling came while considering a petition filed by the woman against a private hospital that had denied her treatment. According to the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Act, the legal age limit for artificial insemination treatment is 55 for men and 50 for women. The petitioner was denied treatment because her husband was 57 years old.

However, the court clarified that the age restriction mentioned in the law is person-specific. Even an unmarried individual can seek treatment. Denying treatment to the petitioner, who is below the prescribed age limit, was deemed a violation of her right to live. The court also pointed out that only those who struggle with infertility can truly understand the pain of being childless.