These two medical techniques have become the 'go-to' for childless Indian couples, say experts
"Today, people are open to exploring new avenues and opportunities that offer them a solution," says fertility specialist, Dr Priti Gupta.
Every decade brings with it new opportunities and challenges; and there is no exception for parents.
Thanks to new technology, advanced procedures and assistive methods, a completely new thought process has replaced the old ways of conceiving a child.
Indusparent spoke to Dr Priti Gupta, senior consultant in Fertility and IVF services, First Step IVF Clinic, Delhi, who explains, “Gone are the days when a childless couple was subjected to shame and embarrassment. Today, people are open to exploring new avenues and opportunities that offer them a solution.”
Cases in point being some famous faces from Bollywood including Aamir Khan, Tusshar Kapoor and Shah Rukh Khan, who became parents through IVF and surrogacy.
“Assisted reproductive Technologies (ART) like IVF and IUI has made it easy for a childless couple to conceive successfully,” she says, adding that before understanding the procedures, one must know that infertility is not an uncommon problem.
Dr Gupta lists a few figures:
- Both men and women are equally affected by infertility.
- Among 25 percent of couples, there is more than one factor that causes infertility.
- 85 percent-90 percent of infertility cases are treated using conventional medical therapies.
- Per year, there are more than 10 million cases of infertility in India.
She says, “Apart from adoption which is the easiest solution for childless couples, the NexGen couples are exploring the less common medical techniques like egg donation, and even surrogacy to conceive a child.”
Common yet ‘not-so-common’ egg donation
One of the popular concepts that is fast catching up with urban couples is egg donation.
Unlike sperm donation, egg donation is done only on demand. In the process, a woman donates eggs for various Assisted Reproductive Technologies for further fertilisation.
“The unfertilised eggs are frozen and stored for future use. A woman related to the recipient can be an egg donor. In addition, the couple may also opt for a ‘designated women’ who is not related to them and may have a contract pertaining to her fee for the job,” she says.
The couple may look for an egg donor if they fulfill the following criteria:
- If the female partner doesn’t have enough ovarian reserve
- The eggs are not healthy to result in pregnancy
- Egg donation is also a great option if the women have reached the age of menopause but are still trying for a pregnancy
- Women born without ovaries also require an egg donor
Dr Gupta says, “Modern couples are exploring this option in a big way. There is a huge popularity of IUI and IVF techniques in India and childless couples are open to opting this technique to experience parenthood.”
Continue reading to read about the first technique which Shah Rukh Khan also used.
Surrogacy-a viable solution
The other option is surrogacy, and the recent most famous face who opted for it was actor Tusshar Kapoor and Farah Khan Kunder. While Kapoor recently became a father to a baby boy, Khan has triplets, thanks to IVF.
“In the simplest terms, when another woman carry and delivers the baby of the couple, the process is termed as surrogacy. The egg and sperm from the parents are fertilised under controlled conditions and are then inserted into the surrogate who act as a carrier for the period of nine months,” explains Dr Gupta.
She adds that the option is applicable when the female partner is unable to carry the baby due to factors like malformation or absence of the womb, repeated IVF failures, or recurrent miscarriages among others.
“Despite being a viable option, there are major chances of transferring HIV and hepatitis through surrogacy and hence, screening and diagnosis are of utmost importance,” she adds.
However, one must keep in mind that as per the newly introduced Surrogacy Bill, certain changes have been introduced.
These changes may prohibit young couples from hiring a ‘designated woman’ and they may have to approach a lady within their family.
Food for thought
Apart from various legal issues related to these procedures, it is the social stigma that people are afraid of that restrict them to go for egg donors and surrogacy.
Dr Gupta recalls “We received a case of a 32-year-old woman who had multiple IVF treatments with repeated failure. Through Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) test, it was found out that she had extremely low egg count in her ovary and hence, suggested her to go for egg donation. She didn’t come back for the further procedure as she was taken aback by the thought of opting for egg donation.”
Increased awareness and great results have drifted many couples towards these procedures. Plus, celebrities have also played a major role in shedding inhibitions regarding these procedures.
It is quite evident that new generation couples are breaking the stereotypes, and infertility or late pregnancies are no longer an issue since many of them are now open the new generation couples are going for all these procedures to have a healthy baby.
Read: Cost of IVF treatment in India and laws you must know
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[All images courtesy: Instagram]
