New Delhi: In a first, the Kerala High Court, in an order Friday, allowed a transgender man, biologically born female, to freeze and store his eggs for starting a family later.
Speaking to ThePrint, 30-year-old Hari Devageeth, the petitioner granted relief by the court, said, “The victory isn’t just about me, it’s a step forward for the right of every trans individual to choose parenthood, without discrimination. I am incredibly happy, relieved, and ready to move forward into our future.”
Hari underwent hormone therapy and had breast removal surgery in 2023. However, he had not completed his sex-reassignment surgery because he, first, wanted his eggs cryopreserved. The private clinic he approached then refused him Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) services, citing his transgender identity. Hari approached the court for relief.
In Friday’s judgment, Justice Shobha Annamma Eapen of the Kerala High Court directed the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) bank to cryopreserve Hari’s eggs.
Hari’s plea challenged the constitutional validity of Section 21 (g) of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021. Section 21(g) essentially allows clinics to provide ART services to men and women above 21 years of age, but restricts women above 50 and men above 55 from availing them. Hari argued that the gender-based classification under Section 21(g) was arbitrary and interfered with his reproductive choice. He argued that it violated his fundamental rights to equality, non-discrimination, and life, among others.
The court, though allowing him to freeze his eggs, refused to deliver any conclusive finding on the law. Speaking to ThePrint, advocate Dhanuja MS, who appeared for Hari, said, “The judgment was reserved around two months ago, after the hearing concluded.”
“The court directed the ART bank to take steps to retrieve and cryopreserve his eggs so that he could opt for reproduction later,” Dhanuja said.
Explaining the judge’s reasoning for partly allowing Hari’s plea, Dhanuja said the judge determined that the petitioner fit the statute’s definition of a woman. “Under the 2021 Act, a ‘woman’ means any woman above the age of 21 years who approaches an assisted reproductive technology clinic or assisted reproductive technology bank” for obtaining its authorised services. Since women, who later changed their gender, are not excluded from availing the Act’s benefits, the court saw fit to grant Hari relief.
‘Worked as a delivery boy to fund transition’
Over a decade ago, Hari, then 19, first came to terms with his male identity. At 21, he came out.
“Coming out at 21 without a support system wasn’t easy,” Hari, who has a master’s in demography studies, told ThePrint. “I worked hard, starting out as a delivery partner at Flipkart, to fund and begin my transition.”
Money was not the only problem. After two hospitals rejected him, Hari paused his Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), determined to do it later.
Landing a job with an MNC and moving to Bengaluru opened more doors for him. One of his biggest dreams had been to become a parent, and the job gave him “the financial stability, freedom, and confidence I needed to take the next step.”
“The final decision to undergo egg cryopreservation was a deeply personal one, made together by my partner and me for our future,” Hari said.
It has been a long wait since the decision, but the couple persevered. “Knowing we wanted to preserve this fertility capacity, I held onto that dream even when confidence was low,” Hari said.
And this time, Hari did not do it alone.
Taking his fight to the Kerala HC had the backing and support of his partner, mother, friends, and Kerala-based human rights NGO Disha Foundation.
“After three years of waiting and fighting, I finally feel momentum returning to my life,” Hari said, after the court relief.
Hari’s case & what the law says
Assisted reproductive technology (ART) services refer to services used to treat infertility-related concerns. Infertility may arise from medical conditions, age-related factors, or other causes. ART services are accessible to couples unable to conceive, same-sex couples wanting to start a family, and those seeking to prevent transmission of genetic conditions.
Though Hari underwent treatments such as hormone therapy and breast removal surgery in 2023, he did not complete the sex-reassignment surgery. This was because he wished to cryopreserve his eggs.
However, when he approached a private clinic in Trivandrum in 2024 to cryopreserve the eggs, he was rejected. The reason cited was an absence of provisions in the ART Act or Rules that would allow him to cryopreserve the gametes of a transgender person.
Hari did not want to subject himself to sex reassignment surgery unless his eggs were preserved. It would make him lose all the feminine features of his body and include a complete hysterectomy, including the removal of his ovaries. His plea in HC said that before his sex change surgery, he wanted to cryopreserve his gametes and utilise them for reproduction at a later stage in his life.
The clinic he approached had been providing infertility treatments for years, Hari told the court. The reports of his abdomen and pelvis ultrasonography conducted in July 2024 also indicated no abnormalities. Yet, the clinic refused him treatment, saying that he was no longer a woman and that the ART Act was restricted to a commissioning couple—an infertile, married couple—or “woman”.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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