Ahmedabad: Sabina* remarried at 45 and hoped to start a family with her second husband, Aabid*. But after their first in-vitro fertilization (IVF) attempt failed, a statutory age limit brought the next round of treatment to a halt.Sabina was 47 and Aabid 54 when they began their first IVF cycle. By the time the second cycle was nearing completion, Aabid had turned 55 — the upper age limit prescribed for men seeking assisted reproductive technology services.Fertility specialists say several couples in Gujarat face a similar deadline after delayed marriages, miscarriages, or unsuccessful IVF cycles.“I still had time under the age limit applicable to women, but my husband had turned 55. We suspended the treatment and were heartbroken,” said Sabina, who lives in a city in central Gujarat. “Life does not follow a fixed schedule in which everyone marries and has children at a particular age. It moves at a different pace for each person. Setting a cap on the age seems like injustice.”The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021, caps the man’s age at 55 years and the woman’s age at 50 years for IVF. For unmarried women, the cap is 45 years, said legal experts.As Gujarat High Court hears a couple’s plea seeking IVF treatment past the legal age limit, fertility experts note a growing trend of couples planning families in their late 40s and early 50s.They said later marriages, professional commitments, family circumstances, and repeated treatment failures are among the reasons couples seek IVF later in life. Medical complications can also necessitate multiple cycles, increasing the risk that patients will cross the age threshold before treatment succeeds.Many of them are forced to abandon their dream of parenthood due to the strict statutory age cap.Dr Nayana Patel, a specialist from Anand, said her clinic receives about five to six requests a month from couples seeking IVF at a later age, usually after their mid-40s.“Some patients require multiple cycles because of medical complications. If either partner has crossed the prescribed age, we have to refuse treatment,” she said. “There are also instances in which ongoing treatment has to be discontinued because of the age restriction.”In one Ahmedabad case, a couple had paid for three IVF cycles. The woman conceived during the second cycle but suffered a miscarriage. By the time the third cycle was under way, she had crossed the age limit by two months, according to Dr Falguni Bavishi, a specialist from Ahmedabad.She said an embryo had been created and was ready for transfer, but the clinic could not proceed. The couple was advised to seek judicial permission but they decided against entering a legal battle.“Many patients have already endured unsuccessful attempts to conceive naturally and through ART,” Dr Bavishi said. “The process can be emotionally exhausting, time-consuming, and expensive.”She said the restriction also affects older couples who seek IVF after losing children in earthquakes, cyclones, fires, floods, riots, or other disasters. Such cases have become less frequent, but the age limit can leave affected couples without access to treatment, she added.Neharika* faced a similar setback after conceiving through IVF in her late 40s. Her first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. A viable embryo was created after further treatment, but she had reached the statutory age limit by then, according to the fertility specialist handling the case.For Sulagna*, who travelled from Maharashtra to an Ahmedabad clinic, success in the first IVF cycle meant she did not encounter the same legal barrier.“I was fortunate to conceive in the first cycle and now have twin daughters,” she said. “Had that attempt failed, I could have faced the same situation. I understand the pain of women who are unable to conceive naturally and then find that time has run out for treatment.”Fertility specialists said the age restrictions were intended to regulate assisted reproduction and address health and welfare considerations. Patients affected by the cut-off, however, argue that individual medical fitness and the stage of treatment should also be considered, particularly when embryos have already been created or treatment began before either partner crossed the limit.(*names of patients changed to withhold identities)
