Another fathers of test –tube baby(Dr Subhash Mukhopadhyay(

Dr Subhash Mukhopadhyay...

. World’s second test tube baby, Durga alias Kanupriya Agarwal, was born in India  on Oct 3rd 1978, merely 67 days after Dr Edwards( nobel prize 2010 ) first test tube baby creation, using a different technique whichc Dr Mukhopadhyay developed as compared to Dr Edwards’ group. Instead of receiving any recognition, his work was dubbed dubious and bogus by the then Govt of West Bengal in India and he was barred from attending any international conferences. Facing social ostracization, bureaucratic negligence, reprimand and insult from the Marxist government and refusal of the Government of India  to allow him to attend international conferences, the physician committed suicide in his Calcutta residence on June 19, 1981. (a bollywood movie ”  Ek Doctor ki Maut”  (Death of a Physician- you can watch part of it here!!) was made based on his life story). It was not until 1981 when other countries started reporting successful test tube babies..

"Durga"second  test- tube babe 
"Durga" alias Kanupriya Agarwal--second test tube baby in the world--was performed by Dr Subhash Mukhopadhyay on October 3, 1978. The Calcutta-based doctor got belated recognition eight years later but it was tragically little  late.

The world's first test tube baby Louise Brown was born just three months earlier on July 25, 1978 in the UK when Edwards' efforts were crownd by success.

Durga's birth was caught in ethical and moral controversies with the West Bengal government even denouncing Mukhopadhyay's claim that he had created history in India. The physician's achievements  were not recognised at first.



Eight years after the birth of 'Durga', India's second Test-tube baby Harsha was born. Indira Hinduja was the gynaecologist responsible for the birth of Harsha Chawda at the state-run hospital K.E.M. Hospital in  Mumbai on August 16, 1986. Some records say that Harsha is the 'first' Test-tube baby because of the controversy involving Mukhopadhayay…

Like Brown's birth, Durga's birth had caused public debate, criticism and  even social professional ostracism of those involved in  initiating life outside the body. Harsha's birth opened up the much-sought opportunity for treating couples incapable of natural reproduction. The ICMR estimates at least 10 per  cent of couples in India face infertility…
Apart from factors like low sperm count, infections anderectile dysfunction in males, damaged fallopian tubes, low egg production and  fibroids in females, lifestyle changes have also adversely  affected fertility.

In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) is a complex process in which the ovum is fertilised outside the body and the fertilised egg is then implanted to the uterus. Presently, there are more than 400 IVF clinics in India that even treat those coming from abroad due to the comparatively  lower costs and, in some cases, for Indian donor eggs.

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India's first test tube baby is 25 and jobless

  

Born on August 6, 1986, IVF 'baby' Harsha Chavda wants an unusual present for her 25th birthday: a job.

Harsha Chavda - DNA

Exactly 25 years ago, on August 6, 1986, in Mumbai’s KEM hospital, a young Mani Chavda gave birth to India’s first test tube baby.

To mark her birthday, her daughter, the now 25-year-old test tube ‘baby’, Harsha Chavda visited Siddhivinayak temple on Saturday to seek the god’s blessings.

“There is nothing unusual about me. I am like anybody else. But I will always feel I am special,” says Harsha, a commerce graduate from Mumbai University.

Harsha had been working for four years in the back office of a private company in a clerical capacity, but was forced to quit the job two months ago when she was hospitalised due to an illness. Though fully recovered now, she is currently unemployed and looking for a job.

Harsha lives with her mother in a rented house in Jogeshwari. Her father passed away a few years ago, and she is the only earning member in the family. Says her mother, Mani, “I am proud to be the country’s first IVF (in vitro fertilisation) mother. But I am not happy because my child is not. We are poor and have not been able to buy a home in the city. So we have decided not to celebrate the birthday, but just to visit the Siddhivinayak temple.”

Recalling that memorable day, Dr Indira Hinduja, who delivered Harsha, says, “It was the happiest moment of my life. I was 35 then, and it took a lot of hard work to perfect the technique.” She added, “Though this procedure has become very successful, not a single insurance company has shown interest in covering IVF.”

Currently, IVF treatments cost between Rs1-1.5 lakh. Dr Nandita Palshetkar, IVF expert at Lilavati Hospital and managing committee member of the Indian Society for Assisted Reproduction, said “Women seeking this treatment want to know why insurance companies won’t cover it.” Answers ON Singh of Universal Sompo General Insurance, “Firstly, the IVF market is not big enough; secondly, the success ratio for this treatment is very low in our country. So its too risky for us.”
—With inputs from Yogini Joglekar