In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF)

IVF  Treatment

In vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer were successfully introduced to treat human infertility in 1978 and the world’s first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, was born in the UK on 28 July of that year. Exactly 67 days later, Subhash Mukerjee announced the birth of the world’s second test-tube baby, Kanupriya, alias Durga, on 3 October 1978 in Calcutta. Both these announcements were received with skepticism and the scientists responsible for these births were severely criticized. Nevertheless, the British team carried on with their work and produced several more test-tube babies. In marked contrast, the Government of West Bengal proscribed Mukerjee from carrying out further work in this area and he was transferred to an eye hospital that did not have any facilities to enable him pursue his work

infertility treatment

Infertility Treatment

In view of these vast developments in the field of IVF it is only proper that the pioneers in the field are remembered and honoured. Britain celebrated the birth of Louise Brown with much fanfare on 28 July this year. The Indian Council of Medical Research in collaboration with the Inter Academy Biomedical Science Forum and Hope Infertility Clinic commemorated the silver jubilee of IVF in India, at a simple function held in the premises of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore. On behalf of the Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Vasantha Muthuswamy, felicitated Kanupriya, Sunit Mukerjee, the only surviving member of Mukerjee’s team, and C. P. Puri, National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health, Mumbai for his personal contribution to the endocrine evaluation and monitoring of controlled ovarian hyper stimulation of women recruited for IVF, which was the cornerstone for the successful pregnancy to occur after IVF and embryo transfer. This was followed by a symposium on Spin-offs from Medically Assisted Reproductive Techniques. This meeting was aimed at informing the lay public as well as clinical faculty and scientists on some of the issues that have arisen out of greater understanding of human reproductive processes through medically assisted reproductive techniques.

IVF

Little known facts about male infertility were covered by N. Pandiyan (Andrology and Reproductive Sciences, Apollo Hospitals, Chennai). Infertility is a personal tragedy in the lives of many couples. Male factors are equally responsible for infertility as are those of the female. Much has been written about the causes of male infertility. Sexual dysfunction, ignorance of sexual practices like using lubricants during intercourse also contribute to male infertility.

what is ivf treatment

In vitro fertilization techniques are mainly offered by the private sector, which is very heavily dependent on imported drugs, equipment and devices including disposable plasticware used in in vitro culture. Consequently, the cost of IVF is extremely high in India and unaffordable to many. Research into aspects of human reproduction is almost nonexistent in the private sector and there is hardly any scientific paper that emerges from Indian laboratories or clinics practising IVF. In the symposium, collaboration between the private and pubic sector funding agencies was stressed. Examples were given of the programmes available under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research such as the Program Aimed at Technological Self-Reliance (PATSER) and Co-operative Research Associations that enable the establishment of research centres as a collaborative effort between the private sector and Government funding agencies. This aspect was appreciated by the participants who endorsed the view that similar collaborations must be established between private IVF clinics and even the ICMR to address issues that are of common interest and are aimed at improving patient care and more importantly, providing indigenous substitutes for imported equipment, supplies and drugs.

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