What can an IVF clinic say in its ads, website and social posts in India?
Updated 9 min readFacts checked
Yes, but narrowly. India's ART Act 2021 and PCPNDT Act ban advertising sex selection at any fertility clinic, with prison terms up to ten years. NMC's 2002 code bans soliciting patients, and ASCI requires every claim, including a success rate, to be provable. Announcing your clinic, services and fees is allowed. This is general information, not legal advice.
Key takeaways
- The ART Act 2021 and PCPNDT Act do not ban fertility advertising generally. Both ban one specific thing: any advertisement, in any medium, for sex-selective services, and the ART Act's penalty (5 to 10 years, fine of 10 lakh to 25 lakh rupees) is far heavier than the PCPNDT Act's (up to 3 years, fine up to 10,000 rupees) for the same act.
- A success-rate claim is restricted by ASCI's substantiation rule and NMC's soliciting rule, not by a specific clause in the ART Act. ASCI has already penalised one Indian IVF clinic, in a case reported in 2020, for an unproven 79.8 percent success claim.
- The ART Rules 2022 require every patient to sign a consent form stating there is no guarantee of pregnancy. A website or ad line that promises a baby sits oddly next to a form your own clinic is legally required to use.
- NMC's 2002 code, back in force since 23 Aug 2023, lets you announce a new practice, an address and your fees. It treats direct or indirect soliciting as unethical, and this applies to IVF clinics the same as any other clinic.
On this page
Four different rulebooks touch an IVF clinic's advertising at once: a fertility-specific law from 2021, an older sex-selection law, the general code every doctor answers to, and the advertising industry's own code. Most pages online blur them into one vague warning. Here is what each one actually says, with the clause numbers, so you can check your own website, board and Instagram bio against the real text.
Can an IVF clinic advertise at all in India?
Yes. You can tell people that your clinic exists, where it is, what it offers and what it charges. What gets restricted is anything that reads as chasing patients, promising a result, or touching sex selection in any way. Four rulebooks apply at the same time, and none of them replaces the others.
| Rule | Applies to | What it restricts in advertising |
|---|---|---|
| NMC Code of Medical Ethics, 2002, reg. 6.1.1 | Every registered doctor | Soliciting patients, self-promotion beyond a permitted announcement |
| ART Act 2021, sections 26 and 32 | Every ART clinic and bank | Offering or advertising a sex-selective ART service, in any medium |
| PCPNDT Act 1994, section 22 | Any place with imaging capable of sex determination | Advertising sex determination or sex selection facilities of any kind |
| ASCI Code, Chapter I | Any advertisement published in India | Claims, including a success rate, that are not capable of proof |
Sources: National Medical Commission: Code of Medical Ethics Regulations, 2002 (checked 17 Sep 2026); PRS Legislative Research: The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 (full text, No. 42 of 2021) (checked 17 Sep 2026); Indian Kanoon: Section 22, Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (checked 17 Sep 2026); ASCI: The ASCI Code (checked 17 Sep 2026).The ART Act and PCPNDT Act sit on top of the NMC code for a fertility clinic. None of the four cancels the others out.
PCPNDT Act enacted
Bans advertising sex determination or sex selection facilities of any kind.NMC's Code of Medical Ethics notified
Regulation 6.1.1 makes soliciting patients unethical for every doctor.ASCI upholds a complaint against an IVF clinic
An unproven 79.8% success-rate claim was ruled unsubstantiated.ART Act 2021 assented to
Adds a fertility-specific ban on sex-selective ART advertising, section 32.ART Rules 2022 notified
Sets out the informed-consent wording every ART patient must sign.NMC's 2002 code reinstated
The 2023 conduct regulations were held in abeyance the same day.
What does the ART Act 2021 actually restrict?
Less than most summaries suggest. The ART Act does not have a general clause banning fertility advertising. It restricts one specific thing, sex selection, and separately places a duty on the clinic that has nothing to do with public advertising at all.
The other place "success" appears in the Act is section 21(c)(i), a duty owed to the individual patient, not to the public: clinics must "provide professional counselling to commissioning couple and woman about all the implications and chances of success of assisted reproductive technology procedures in the clinic." That is a private conversation the Act requires, not a number the Act licenses you to put on a hoarding.
There is a second, quieter contradiction worth knowing. The ART Rules 2022 set out the informed consent form every ART patient signs, and its wording is blunt: "there is no certainty that a pregnancy will result from these procedures even in cases where good quality embryos are transferred," and medical staff "can give no assurance that any pregnancy will result in the delivery of a normal living child." A clinic is free to write ad copy that sounds more confident than that form, but it is worth noticing the gap before a patient does.
How is the PCPNDT Act different from the ART Act?
The PCPNDT Act came first, in 1994, and it is broader than fertility: it covers any place with an ultrasound or imaging machine capable of sex determination, not only ART clinics. Its own advertising ban overlaps almost exactly with the ART Act's, but the penalty is much lighter, which is easy to miss if a blog cites only one of the two laws.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| PCPNDT Act, 1994 (any place) | 3 years |
| ART Act, 2021 (ART clinic or bank) | 10 years |
Sources: Indian Kanoon: Section 23, Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (checked 17 Sep 2026); PRS Legislative Research: The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 (full text, No. 42 of 2021) (checked 17 Sep 2026).Both laws can apply to the same advertisement. This chart shows the maximum term under each; fines differ too (up to ₹10,000 under PCPNDT, up to ₹25 lakh under the ART Act).
An IVF clinic that runs a "guaranteed baby boy" style ad is not choosing between the two laws. Both apply at once, and the ART Act's penalty, specific to ART clinics and banks, is the one that actually bites harder.
Can an IVF clinic publish its success rate?
Not as a bare headline number. Nothing in the ART Act stops you from stating a success rate, but two other rules do: NMC's ban on soliciting, and ASCI's rule that every claim has to be provable.
The lesson isn't "never mention outcomes." It is that a number needs to survive being checked by someone who isn't you: an independent audit, a chartered accountant's certificate, or a named, dated, verifiable source, the same standard this page tries to hold itself to. A number your own front desk counted does not clear that bar.
What does NMC's 2002 code allow and ban?
NMC's Code of Medical Ethics Regulations, 2002, applies to every registered doctor, IVF specialists included, and it is the rule that has been in force continuously, unlike the 2023 regulations that were held in abeyance on 23 Aug 2023.
| What you want to say | Where it stands | What it rests on |
|---|---|---|
| “We treat infertility”, listing IUI, IVF or ICSI as services | Generally allowed | Reg. 6.1.1 permits naming your practice and services |
| Your consultation and procedure fees, stated plainly | Generally allowed | Reg. 6.1.1: public declaration of charges |
| “Book your baby today” or similar urgency wording | Not allowed | Reads as soliciting under reg. 6.1.1 |
| Choosing or guaranteeing a baby's sex | Not allowed, criminal offence | ART Act s. 26 and 32; PCPNDT Act s. 22 |
| An unverified success-rate percentage as a headline claim | Not allowed without independent proof | ASCI Code, Chapter I; NMC reg. 6.1.1 |
| A named patient's photo, story or testimonial video | Unclear: get consent, ask a lawyer | Reg. 7.17 needs consent; ASCI needs substantiation |
Rows describe general patterns under the 2002 code, not a ruling on any specific advertisement.
What can a clinic safely put on its website and Instagram?
Stick to what a patient needs to decide whether to walk in, not what might persuade them to. That distinction does most of the compliance work by itself.
- Safe: the procedures you offer, your registration number and qualifications, your fees, address, timings and how to book. See what to show about your registration number and the rules on displaying your fees.
- General education, under your own name: what IUI, IVF or ICSI involve in plain language, without tying the explanation to a promised outcome.
- Risky: any wording about choosing, ensuring or increasing the odds of a particular sex, a bare success-rate percentage without an independent source, urgency language ("limited slots," "book now"), or a discount tied to booking a cycle.
- Unclear, ask first: patient testimonials and before-after style posts, even with consent. Consent solves the privacy problem in regulation 7.17; it does not solve the substantiation problem under the ASCI Code.
A compliant content checklist
Run any ad, website line or Instagram caption past this before it goes live. None of it needs a lawyer to check, though a lawyer is worth involving for anything that still looks unclear afterwards.
Before you publish an IVF clinic ad, website line or social post
It does not mention or imply the sex of the child, in any form.
It does not promise, guarantee or imply a pregnancy or a live birth outcome.
Any success-rate number has an independent source you can name.
Not your own front-desk count. An audit, a CA certificate, or a dated published figure.
It states a service, a fee or an address rather than urging someone to act now.
Any named or shown patient has given written consent.
And the content still doesn't read as an outcome guarantee, consent or not.
Your registration number and qualifications are correct and current wherever they appear.
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules and their enforcement can change; check with your state medical council or a lawyer before publishing anything you're unsure about.
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Common questions
Can an IVF clinic advertise its success rate in India?
Not as a headline claim unless you can independently prove it. ASCI's Code requires every claim to be capable of substantiation, and in a case reported in May 2020, ASCI upheld a complaint against an IVF clinic's ad claiming '79.8% Successful Results, the Highest in Northern India' because the clinic's own data, self-certified, was not accepted as proof. The ART Act itself does not have a clause about success-rate advertising; its rule on 'chances of success' is a duty to counsel each patient privately, not a public claim.
Is it illegal to advertise for a baby of a particular gender?
Yes, and it carries two separate penalties. Section 32 of the ART Act 2021 bans any advertisement, in any medium including the internet, for sex-selective ART facilities, with imprisonment of 5 to 10 years or a fine of 10 lakh to 25 lakh rupees, or both. Section 22 of the PCPNDT Act 1994 separately bans advertising sex determination or sex selection facilities, with imprisonment up to 3 years or a fine up to 10,000 rupees. Both apply.
What is the penalty for advertising sex selection at a fertility clinic?
Under the ART Act 2021 (section 32), imprisonment for 5 to 10 years or a fine of 10 lakh to 25 lakh rupees, or both. Under the older PCPNDT Act 1994 (section 22), imprisonment up to 3 years or a fine up to 10,000 rupees. The ART Act's penalty, specific to ART clinics and banks, is the much heavier of the two.
Can an IVF clinic use patient testimonials on Instagram or its website?
Treat it as unclear rather than settled. A testimonial that names or shows an identifiable patient needs that patient's consent under regulation 7.17 of NMC's 2002 code, and a testimonial used to attract patients can also read as unsubstantiated evidence of an outcome under the ASCI Code. Ask your state medical council or a lawyer before posting one.
Does the general NMC advertising rule apply to IVF clinics the same way as other doctors?
Yes. The ART Act and ART Rules sit on top of NMC's 2002 code, not instead of it. Regulation 6.1.1 calls soliciting patients, directly or indirectly, unethical for every registered doctor, fertility specialists included, while allowing a formal announcement of a new practice, an address change or your fees.
What should an IVF clinic put on its website instead of a success rate number?
What you actually offer and what a patient needs to decide whether to walk in: the procedures you perform (IUI, IVF, ICSI, and so on), your registration and qualifications, your fees, your address and timings. Save the individual chances-of-success conversation for the counselling session the ART Act already requires, where it belongs.
Facts checked against the sources listed on this page.
Sources
- 1.PRS Legislative Research: The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 (full text, No. 42 of 2021) (checked 17 Sep 2026)
- 2.Ministry of Health and Family Welfare: Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Rules, 2022 (G.S.R. 419(E), 7 June 2022) (checked 17 Sep 2026)
- 3.Indian Kanoon: Section 22, Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (checked 17 Sep 2026)
- 4.Indian Kanoon: Section 23, Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (checked 17 Sep 2026)
- 5.National Medical Commission: Code of Medical Ethics Regulations, 2002 (checked 17 Sep 2026)
- 6.Indian Kanoon: Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 (full text) (checked 17 Sep 2026)
- 7.Medical Dialogues: NMC puts its Professional Conduct Regulations, 2023 on hold (24 Aug 2023) (checked 17 Sep 2026)
- 8.ASCI: The ASCI Code (checked 17 Sep 2026)
- 9.BestMediaInfo: 110 objectionable ads withdrawn after ASCI's intervention in January 2020 (published 1 May 2020) (checked 17 Sep 2026)
Update log
- : published.