University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Donrich Thaldar is a full professor of law at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, where he chairs the Health Law & Ethics Research Interest Group. He is currently principal investigator of an NIH-funded project that investigates the legal aspects of data science in health innovation in Africa. Professor Thaldar also has a private law practice, where he specializes in strategic litigation in reproductive law (reprolaw). Before starting his academic career in 2017, he practiced as an advocate at the Pretoria Bar. He served as legal counsel or as amicus curiae in several landmark cases in the field of reprolaw in South Africa. Some highlights are: The first case that considered the concept ‘designer children’ (2016); the first case of posthumous conception (2018); the first case of gamete withdrawal from a comatose person (2020); and the first case about the enforceability of a sperm donor agreement (2021); and a successful legal challenge to the constitutionality of the statutory prohibition on non-medical preimplantation sex selection (2022).
