IVF clinics mushroom, defy medical council's guidelines

Lily

B.R
Staff member
New Delhi: While one-year-old Chirag takes small steps in the courtyard, his mother Savita Bhati lies still with swollen legs on a cot at her sprawling residence in west Delhi.

Bedridden due to chronic osteoporosis, Savita gave birth after 34 years of marriage through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) done at the age of 56.

She was never told about the dangers of undergoing the IVF treatment close to menopause and becoming vulnerable to many other age-related disorders.

"The private clinic I chose with my family had assured us of results. Having stayed childless for so many years, nothing sounded more important than having your own flesh and blood in the cradle," Bhati, who underwent the IVF therapy at a private clinic in Uttam Nagar, said.

Barren

"At least I will not be known [as] barren," she spoke as she struggled to sit with a pillow behind her.

For Bhati's family, the fact that there is "an heir is a blessing in itself".

With the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimating that 13-19 million couples are infertile in India, IVF clinics have mushroomed unhindered.

The deep-rooted stigma associated with childlessness makes some clinics go all out, even if it means flouting Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines on Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ART), with some of them surviving on outdated equipment and lack of skilled doctors.

Guidelines

Fertility experts say nothing can be done with the ICMR guidelines, until the ART bill is introduced for strict compliance.

"ICMR is just associated with formulating guidelines on accreditation of IVF clinics. ART is a growing sector … If the demand is there, people will seek private care," ICMR director general Vishwa Mohan Katoch said. "I cannot comment on the regulation of mushrooming clinics because it is not ICMR's job," Katoch added.

IVF, considered a form of ART, is used to conceive the child outside the woman's body. The eggs and sperms are placed together under controlled conditions for fertilisation, after which the resulting embryos are placed back in the woman's uterus to initiate pregnancy.

The 128-page ICMR national guidelines were given in 2005. But these have drawn flak for want of a stringent licensing procedure to open IVF clinics, and insufficient monitoring of existing clinics.
 
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