News
Selected news stories from the international press relating to Asian (In)Fertilities:
In vitro fertilization boom in India - Times of India
(28 July 2010)
LUDHIANA: Many couples are resorting to in vitro fertilization (IVF) to fulfil their dreams of parenthood, but it is sad that many people in Punjab are still stuck to their age-old thought of having male child.
Experts said that infertility occurs in up to 15% of couples, out of them 80% can be treated routinely with simple remedies. The rest, need to undergo advanced infertility treatments — IVF, ICSI, egg donation or surrogacy — although a mere 10% can afford these. About 40,000 IVF cycles are done in India every year.
Dr Hrishikesh Pai, consultant gynaecologist and infertility specialist, Fortis, said that it was not only the women who were to be blamed for infertility as according to studies, 40% of men too were responsible for it, along with other factors such as delayed marriages, drop in sperm count due to a number of reasons.
However, it is really sad that specially from this region most of the childless couple preferred to have male child and they straightaway asked the doctors that what were the chances of getting the male baby.
Echoing a similar view, Dr Pooja Mehta, who was also working with Dr Pai, added that this was against the Prenatal Diagnostic Test (PNDT), but especially from Punjab the sole preference of the couples was to have baby boy and that too because of family pressures.
Giving an example, she added that if 10 couples were coming from the region, eight will ask about the chances of getting a male baby so that their family grows.
Options For Couples
Intrauterine Insemination (IUI): Commonly called ‘artificial insemination’, it involves injecting washed sperm directly into the uterus
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF): Ovaries are stimulated with medication to produce eggs, which are then fertilized outside the uterus. Embryos are transferred back into the womb. It costs Rs 1,00,000 to Rs 1,50,000 per cycle. Using a donor’s eggs can add Rs 8,000 to Rs 20,000 per cycle.
Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI): Eggs and sperm are fertilized in the lab by direct injection of a single sperm into each egg
Ovary Stimulating Medications (OSM): Women undergoing IVF, and sometimes IUI, must take drugs to stimulate egg production before retrieval
Egg and embryo donation: Egg donation for women more than 40 years of age
Blastocyst culture: The envyos are grown into incubator for five days till they reach the blastocyst stage. These embryos are tranferred back into womb.
