Today is a special day!
It is celebrated worldwide as
'World IVF day' as well as 'World embryologist's day'.
This is because the world's first
IVF baby or Test-Tube baby, Louise Brown was born on this day 41 years ago in
England, thanks to the sustained efforts of gynecologist Dr. Patrick Steptoe,
Embryologist
Dr. Robert Edwards and their nurse co-ordinator Jean Purdy. The news of this path- breaking
achievement took the whole world by storm! It awakened new hope for all the
childless couples of the world, especially women with blocked tubes. It was, truly, a
major step in women's empowerment. After this, the technology was embraced by
the scientific communities all over the world and IVF slowly became a routine
therapy for infertility, not only abroad but also in India. India also has the
credit of the second IVF baby in the world, Durga, born due to unstinting efforts of
Dr Subhash Mukherjee in Kolkata. She was born just a month after Louise Brown
but her birth went uncelebrated and unsung, and her creator died a broken
hearted man a couple of years later, since the then government and his
colleagues refused to acknowledge his work. Subsequently, Dr. Indira Hinduja
and her team in Mumbai achieved the first 'official' test tube baby success in
1985. And soon, the IVF industry took quick roots in our country.
All through the last century, and
into this one, the world of assisted reproduction( scientific name for IVF) has
grown by leaps and bounds. The technology is now used to treat many more causes of
infertility, affecting both men and women. The advances have been on the
clinical side as well as the laboratory side. These are the two main arms of
the treatment. The clinical arm deals with investigating the couple and
planning the hormonal treatment for the IVF cycle, whereas the IVF laboratory
handles the male and female gametes ( sperm and egg) and culturing ( growth )
of the embryos. The process of fertilisation ( coming together of egg and sperm
to form an embryo) underwent an advance in 1993,
when a new technique called
ICSI ( Intra cytoplasmic sperm injection) was discovered in Belgium. This has
been further refined, and is now available as IMSI, PICSI etc.
We can now,
offer even men with no sperm seen in their semen sample ( azoospermia) the hope
of fathering a healthy child with the help of techniques like TESE, TESA, (
both methods are for extracting live sperm from the testis) or PESA (
extracting sperm from the epidydimis, an area just above the testis).
The greatest advances in assisted
reproduction have been in the area of freezing, of embryos, eggs as well as
sperm. With the help of excellent freezing techniques, we can now offer women a
success rate of almost 70 to 80 percent after 3 attempts of embryo transfer. It
has also helped us overcome the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation which could be
a potentially life threatening condition affecting women undergoing IVF
treatment. Egg freezing offers women wanting to postpone child bearing the
chance to store their healthy eggs at a younger age and take a shot at
pregnancy when they are more settled in their careers. ( But beware, this is
still not recommended strongly because human eggs do not necessarily have
optimum survival after freezing). Sperm freezing has been around for quite some
time and has improved further so that we can now even freeze 5 to 10 sperm
removed surgically from the testis.
This would not have been possible a few
years ago! Even couples with genetic problems can now make use of a technique
called PGD and choose normal healthy embryos to replace into the womb. This
way, we can avoid the birth of an affected or abnormal child.
Today, we in India, can proudly
say that all the above techniques are available in India, at a much lower cost
than in the western world. Our success rates also closely match with european
standards. The ICMR ( Indian Council of Medical Research) is in the process of
giving recognition and licensing to centres which are following good standards
of care. Our centre, Siddhilife Assisted Reproducion Centre, Borivli, is one such centre.
I would like to end this blog by
stressing on the fact, that all said and done, the success rates of all the
above modern techniques depends on the AGE OF THE WOMAN who is undergoing
treatment. Fertility potential of women, especially Indian women, goes down
dramatically after 35 years. The best results of any treatment are achieved when
the woman is 32 years or less. So any aspiring couple wanting to embark on the
path to parenthood should not delay their decision to seek help from qualified
people. On this world IVF day, here's wishing every aspiring mom or dad going
through IVF treatment currently, all the very best!! Wish you success in your
endeavour and may you become a happy family soon!
Details at: www.siddhilifeivf.com
Disclaimer:- This blog is a personal blog written and edited
by Dr.Sharda Kulkarni.The material on this blog is not to be used by any
commercial or personal entity without expressed written consent of the blog
author. The statements on this blog are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure
or prevent any disease. The author does not in any way guarantee or warrant the
accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any message and will not be held
responsible for the content of any message.
