‘India Ahead of European Countries in Assisted Reproduction’

Fertility Super Specialists Suggest Freezing Techniques For Controlling Fertility

“India is much ahead of European Countries in terms of assisted reproduction technologies. The quality and cost of treatment, and the diversity of options in treating infertile women is much better in India than other countries”, said Telangana State Secretary of Indian Fertility Society Dr. Roya Rozati.

Addressing the media after a panel discussion organized by the Indian Fertility Society (Telangana) at Hotel MariGold (Begumpet, Hyderabad) on using cryobiology to preserve women’s fertility, Dr. Roya said “with the recent advancements in assisted reproduction technologies, techniques like cryopreservation can help even women who were not able to conceive a child due to onset of cancer, early menopause or any other reason can conceive a baby using cryopreservation.”

At the panel discussion, fertility super specialists and embryologists from different medical institutions pitched freezing ovarian tissues a good option for preserving the fertility of women. The process, known as cryopreservation involves controlled freezing of a female’s eggs under medical supervision without allowing formation of ice crystals after extracting them. The frozen egg is later thawed and used for injecting sperm using techniques like Invitro Fertilization, popularly known as IVF and ICSI.

Using this technique, a woman can choose to postpone her motherhood.

Experts consider this as one of the most effective procedures in assisted reproduction as it helps preserving eggs or even embryos so they can be used at a later stage for childbearing. By preserving reproductive tissues or eggs, fertility experts and specialists can actually preserve your fertility and boost chances of pregnancy which usually seem to diminish with age or are constrained by career choices.

This process is more like pausing motherhood by freezing your eggs and resuming it when you are ready for motherhood. For instance, a woman may choose to freeze her eggs at the age of 20 and use it 20 years later to become a mother at the age of 40. Simply put,  the chances are higher for a woman whose eggs were extracted in early twenties than for a woman whose eggs were extracted at the age of 40.

Experts stressed that cryopreservation can not only help women but also help men who can choose to freeze their sperm if they are abroad or not available with the wife at the time of undergoing IVF treatment. Similarly, freezing of oocytes can help women who suffer from early menopause and freezing of embryos can help in preserving it for later use for reproduction.

The chances are high for girls and women at young age as no partner is required, no ovarian stimulation is necessary and eggs can be immediate harvested and preserved.

The technique can also help women career constraints. Women who undergo medical treatment for cancer, have recently had an ovarian surgery, or choose to pause their motherhood for one or the other reasons may benefit from these procedures.

A live procedure of Ovarian Tissue Freezing was also demonstrated.

Secretary General IFS Dr. Pankaj Talwar expressed happiness over India’s progress in this field.

National Coordinator for Cryobiology Dr. Pranay Gosh, IFS Telangana Treasurer Dr. Lakshmi Krishna Leela Dr. Charulata Chatterjee, Dr. Srilatha Gorthi, Dr. Ch. Swapna, Dr. Movva Madhuri, Dr. Radhika Reddy Pingilli and others were also present on this occasion.