On this World IVF Day, my message to everyone, especially to those undergoing treatment for infertility, is to stay hopeful. Scientific advancements have significantly simplified the process and improved the treatment outcome, since the first successful IVF procedure back in 1978, which resulted in the birth of Louise Brown in the UK. If you are struggling to conceive, my suggestion is to consult an infertility specialist now and start treatment early. https://youtu.be/EFDLXz

We are living in an age of consumerism, and healthcare has also been affected by it. In India, several Infertility clinics and IVF centers have come up over last few years. While this has helped fill in the demand supply gap in this field bringing in much needed competition and has given more options to the patients, this has also prompted aggressive marketing by these clinics is in order to attract more patients, thereby confusing patients on how to go about choosing their d

As an IVF specialist I often come across questions from my patients about safety of IVF procedure and the well being of the offspring resulting from IVF. Many patients ask me if the IVF baby could, in any way, be different from a normally conceived baby, and are, at times, reluctant to undergo the fertility treatment. Many of these patients quote some horror stories of other patients who have undergone IVF. What I explain to the patients is that most of the times they get to

It’s a well-known fact that male factor contributes to a couple’s inability to conceive in up to 40% of all cases of infertility. In practice, however, the inability of a couple to conceive is still seen largely as a woman’s problem. In fact, one of the most common initial responses of the male partners that we come across when assessing them is that all “I am healthy and all my reports are good” and then the whole responsibility is shifted to the woman partner alone. So, wha

Many women with suspected/ diagnosed infertility often ask me if their infertility could have resulted from usage of birth control pills in the past. There is clearly no such association between using birth control pills and infertility and suppression of fertility by birth control pills gets completely reversed on discontinuing the pill. Let us first understand how the birth control pills actually work, and, then we will discuss why these pills cannot lead to infertility. Hi

There has been good debate on what is the correct number of eggs to be retrieved and number of embryos to be transferred during an IVF cycle. The debate revolves around success rate and cost of the procedure and patient comfort and compliance. I will try to address the first of these two questions, i.e. whats is a good number of eggs to retrieve during an IVF cycle and how should one go about it. Technically speaking, a single egg has the potential for fertilization and the f

How to tackle PCOS? If you are one of those 30% of women having PCOS, then this is your space! PCOS is a very common, yet often misdiagnosed condition and many women will call themselves as polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD) or polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) without knowing its full meaning and implications. What is PCOS? It is important to understand that PCOS is not a disease, but a syndrome- which literally means that it is a group of symptoms resulting from involvement

An anxious, overweight woman came in to consult me a couple of weeks back. She has been trying to conceive for two years but has been unsuccessful. Now she has not had her menses for last 9 weeks but her pregnancy test was negative. She has been having her periods irregularly for last many years. A rapidly growing and often ignored problem The number of young overweight women and men seeking medical assistance for planning family is on a rise. Being overweight not only affect