Keralam High Court refuses to let couples past the ART Act age limit treat on an undertaking

1 November 2026

Justice Harisankar V Menon of the Keralam High Court has held that couples who have crossed the upper age limit in Section 21(g) of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 cannot be allowed treatment merely on an undertaking, in a ruling carrying the neutral citation 2026:KER:80986. The Court declined to follow the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which had allowed treatment on an undertaking without considering the Keralam Division Bench judgment that upheld Section 21(g). Having earlier allowed such treatment, the Court reversed itself once that Division Bench judgment was noticed. Permission was also refused to couples who had begun treatment before crossing the age limit. A Supreme Court decision the petitioners relied on could not be applied, the Court said, because it arose under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 rather than the ART Act, even though the two provisions are similar. The upper age limit under the ART Act is the point on which fertility treatment petitions most often reach the High Courts.