Fertile couples seek ivf for designer kids

1. Fertile couples seek IVF for
designer kids
Resort To ART For Genetically
Healthy Babies

2. Contd..
• Shubha and Nitin, a Thane couple in their early 30s, have been
regularly visiting an IVF clinic in south Mumbai for two months
despite neither of them being infertile. They both carry a faulty gene
that increases their risk of bearing children with thalassemia, a
blood disorder that requires weekly transfusions. With a test-tube
baby , they can rule out thalassemia in their babies.
• Clearly , assisted reproductive technology (ART) are changing.
From helping infertile couples have babies, ART has evolved to
assist people in having genetically healthy babies. This has been
possible due to improved pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD),
a procedure of carrying out genetic testing on embryos created in a
laboratory . “Only the embryos that don't have genetic defects will
be implanted in the womb,'' said infertility specialist Dr Firuza Parikh
from Jaslok Hospital, Pedder Road, who is treating Shubha and
Nitin and was the first in India to offer PGD 15 years back.

3. Contd..
• PDG is not new or non-controversial (the present-day Pre-
Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act was amended
in 2003 to say that PGD cannot be used for sex selection), but the
techniques are fast evolving. Laboratories such as Ahmedabad's
Supratech Micropath, Delhi's Nova IVI and private genetic testing
labs now offer cutting-edge genetic tests.
• This has resulted in more couples opting for it. Bhayander,
Maharashtra, resident Kusum, who like Shubha is a thalassemia
minor, is seven months pregnant with a genetically normal baby .
Using invitro fertilization techniques, Dr Parikh created seven
embryos -literally in a petri dish -for Kusum and Sumeet. “Six didn't
have the gene for thales semia major. We implanted three into
Kusum's uterus that resulted in a single pregnancy,'' said Dr Parikh.

4. Contd..
• Dr Kamala Selvaraj started using PGD for patients in
Chennai last year. “Even though PGD adds cost to the
treatment, couples who are keen to have genetically
healthy babies opt for it,'' said Dr Selvaraj, who has
helped 25 couples in a year.PGD increases treatment
cost by 20-25%, but doctors say it's more affordable, and
less emotionally wrecking, than lifelong treatment or care
for genetic abnormalities.
• Infertility specialist Dr Aniruddha Malpani from Colaba
said PGD requires probes customized for each genetic
abnormality . “It is too specialized and cannot be offered
at all laboratories. It requires a skilled person to perform
a biopsy on an embryo without damaging it,'' he said.

5. Contd..
• Child rights activists have frowned upon the possibility of
such techniques being abused for sex selection, but
there are a little over 100 couples countrywide who have
got genetically normal babies due to PGD.
• “Assisted reproductive technology has moved beyond
helping only infertile couples, its reach spreads to those
who are otherwise fertile but are at a risk of having
children afflicted with genetic disorders such as
thalassemia major, Duchenne muscular dystrophy ,
Huntington disease, Down Syndrome, Turner syndrome
and unbalanced chromosomal translocations, many of
which are lethal,'' said Dr Parikh, who has helped 76
couples in three years.

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