Arham Jain
The High Court of Kerala, on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, heard the petition filed by Advocate AK Preetha, C Anil Kumar, Devika Mohan and Reshma R Krishnan, for the denial of the request, of a transgender person to store and preserve his eggs, by a private hospital in the case of Hari Devageeth v. Union of India & ors.
After a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, KMIS, refused to store and preserve his eggs due to his gender identification, a transgender person filed a suit before the Hon’ble High Court of Kerala.
The Petitioner, Hari Devageeth, is a 28-year-old man who identifies as male even though he was born as female. He has had surgery to remove his breasts, but he has not yet finished the sex reassignment procedure. Despite medical examinations showing no abnormalities, the hospital denied the treatment solely on his gender identification.
Denying him access to egg cryopreservation is an explicit violation of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, which addresses the right to life and personal liberty, which includes the reproductive rights.
The petitioner asserted that the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 and the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020, specifically forbid discrimination of any kind in medical services based on gender identification. The petitioner also cited Kerala’s 2015 Transgender Policy, which prohibits discrimination in healthcare access based on gender identification.
The court issued notices to the National Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and Surrogacy Board, the State Government, the Director of the Social Justice Department, the private hospital, and the Union Government based on the petition.
The matter will be heard again on February 18.
Case Name– Hari Devageeth v Union of India & ors
Case Number: Writ Petition (Civil) 5306/2025
Bench– Justices CS Dias