New Delhi – A 32-year-old woman from Delhi's Pitampura neighborhood transformed her heartbreaking miscarriage into an act of profound generosity by donating her fetus to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Vandana Jain, supported by her family, made this decision to advance medical research, fetal tissue studies, and education, highlighting the potential of donated tissue in understanding human development and treating complex diseases.
The donation followed Jain's pregnancy ending unexpectedly in its fifth month. Her father-in-law, Suresh Jain, president of the Aagam Shri Foundation, which promotes organ and tissue donation, coordinated the effort. He contacted GP Tayal, north head of Dadichi Deh Dan Samiti, an organization focused on body and organ donations. Together, they connected with AIIMS’s anatomy department, ensuring a seamless process. An AIIMS ambulance collected the fetus from a nursing home in Rohini, where Vandana underwent the procedure.
"I promote awareness and facilitate organ donation through my organization. So, when our family experienced this tragedy, we decided to come forward and donate the fetus for a larger cause," Suresh Jain explained.
Human fetal tissue is a critical resource in biomedical research, providing insights into development and disease that are unattainable through other (animal) models. Human fetal tissue, as defined by the National Institutes of Health, is tissue or cells collected from a deceased human embryo or fetus following a spontaneous or induced abortion.
Human fetal tissue has also played a vital role in the validation and optimization of protocols for generating specialized cells or tissues from stem cells, facilitating their use in basic science and regenerative medicine.(1)
This donation would have aligned with India's strict ethical guidelines for fetal tissue research, as outlined in the 2017 National Guidelines for Stem Cell Research by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT). Key provisions include:
Compliance with the MTP Act: Termination of pregnancy (TOP) must adhere to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, and donations for financial or other inducements are prohibited.
Informed Consent: Voluntary informed consent must be obtained for both the termination and the donation of fetal material, taken in advance to allow parents sufficient decision-making time. If parents disagree, the mother’s wish prevails. Consent includes permission for screening for transmissible diseases and family history of genetic disorders.
Clear Purpose: The purpose and use of donated fetal tissue must be fully explained to parents, avoiding vague or open-ended descriptions, with information sheets vetted by Institutional Committees for Stem Cell Research (IC-SCR) and Institutional Ethics Committees (IEC).
Separation of Roles: The medical professional responsible for the pregnant woman’s care must not be the same as the investigator using the fetal material, ensuring no conflict of interest.
Non-Specific Use: Donors cannot specify the recipient or particular use of the donated material, maintaining the non-commercial nature of the donation.
Confidentiality: The donor’s identity remains confidential, though personal information is retained for traceability if the cells are used for therapy.
These guidelines ensure donor autonomy, prevent exploitation, and uphold ethical integrity in research.
References:
1. "Parental Acceptance of Fetal Tissue Donation" JAMA Network Open 7 (11): e2444238. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.44238.
2. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT), National Guidelines for Stem Cell Research, 2017, accessed September 9, 2025, https://dbtindia.gov.in/sites/default/files/National_Guidelines_StemCellResearch-2017.pdf.
(Rh/Eth/VK/MSM)