Importance of “OWN EGG” Pregnancy in Infertility
Surat – 9th June 2022 : The National Health Portal of India estimates that 15% of the Indian population is suffering from infertility. Furthermore, according to another report by World Health Organization (WHO), primary infertility in India is between 3.9-16.8%. Out of these, 70% of cases include sexually transmitted infections. Owing to this rising concern, approximately 27.5 million Indian couples are actively trying to conceive because of infertility.
Similarly, in the United States of America, 9% of men and about 11% of women experience fertility problems. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development estimates that 12-15% of couples fail to conceive in the country.
The data available from worldwide sources prove that infertility is no longer private despair. It is growing abundantly at a high rate. The reason is social and personal consequences.
In the earlier days, the responsibility of childbirth was tied to a woman. Childbearing or childbirth was marked as the esteemed duty of the female gender. A woman’s worth was measured on the scale of her capability to bear and raise a child. Hence, a woman having problems bearing a child was condemned and frowned upon in society. This has led to several social issues and wrecked marriages.
In India, infertility has always been a social stigma or a taboo. The people today are, however, more aware and advanced as compared to the earlier days. Hence, it is now time for them to break such taboos and speak about them freely in society. It is now the time to recognize infertility as a serious personal and public health issue.
According to WHO, the prevalence of infertility in the general population is 15 to 20 per cent, and the male infertility factor contributes 20 to 40 per cent to this rate. Moreover, the prevalence of male infertility in India is around 23 per cent.
The only way to break the social stigma is by spreading awareness. Infertility is not restricted to a specific gender. Science has proved that both genders are equally responsible for conceiving. One-third of infertility problems are due to men, one-third due to women, one-third due to both, and others due to unexplained reasons. Infertility research in India demonstrated that 30% of Indian men have normal semen characteristics which cause problems in conceiving for women.
These statistics from the research are corroborated by fertility experts around India. According to Dr Yesha Choksi (Infertility Specialist, WINGS IVF Hospital, Surat) “Of all infertility cases, approximately 40–50% is due to “male factor” infertility and as many as 2% of all men will exhibit suboptimal sperm parameters. Surprisingly, in the year 2020, the fertility rate for India was 2.2 births per woman. The fertility rate of India fell gradually from 5.5 births per woman in 1971 to 2.2 births per woman in 2020.”
Infertility problems in India are rampantly growing and spreading like a wildfire. Today, every other couple is finding it difficult to conceive. The age-old Indian lifestyle is slowly on the verge of extinction and the modern lifestyle is causing more problems than we can comprehend. The new lifestyle is lethargic with no or minimal physical activity.
This leads to obesity and diabetes. Surprisingly, over 40% of women attending infertility clinics are obese. Similarly, obesity also affects the semen quality in men. Moreover, sexually transmitted diseases, polycystic ovarian syndrome, fibroids, and genital tuberculosis are some other villains that add fuel to the fire. Sexually transmitted infections, emergency contraception, and surgical abortions are other aspects of the same story. Overall, all of these together trigger a serious infection that may even result in irreversible infertility.
Somewhere the so-called advanced lifestyle is failing us. The rapid urbanization, eating junk food, sitting with the mobile phones for hours, job pressure, vehicular pollution, and postponing parenthood have changed the way our hormones work. Hormonal changes are the main culprits of infertility in India. Infertility is now increasing alarmingly in our country and India contributes to nearly 25-30% of all the cases around the world. The over-crowded in-vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics proclaim the magnitude of this problem.
Assisted reproductive techniques (ART) are now increasingly popular among couples trying to conceive. IVF is one of the effective methods that is helping couples all over the world. In this procedure, the egg is fertilized with the sperm in a laboratory. Once the egg is fertilized or converted into an embryo, it is implanted into the woman’s womb.
Current Donor Egg V/S OWN Egg Scenario
Donor egg is indicated in cases with premature ovarian failure, menopause, autosomal dominant genetic disease in females, low AMH levels, and age above 42 years. Dr Nila Mehta, Center Head & IVF Expert – WINGS IVF Hospital, however, states “The unstructured and fragmented Indian IVF market is deadly because it pushes more than 60% of women for donor eggs. The women are not aware that they can get pregnant with their OWN eggs.” He further adds “This is because of wrong diagnosis and interpretation of AMH levels. The patients do not receive correct guidance and fall for donor egg IVF.”
Why Pregnancy with OWN Gametes is Important?
A child is the reflection of both father and mother. Couples bear a child to look themselves in him/her. Seeing the child grow and having your features is a joy which parents look forward to. Hence, we know why getting pregnant with your OWN gametes is important to you.
According to Dr Nila Mehta “Third-party donation is not required in most of the cases. If we focus on reducing IVF cycle attempts, we can easily reduce third party donations. This will further reduce the physical and financial burden of the woman as well as she can get pregnant with her own gametes.”
Why WINGS for OWN Egg Pregnancy?
Speaking about its solution, Dr Nila Mehta says “Extensive and meticulous quality control and quality assurance program of IVF lab is crucial to maintain the air quality. A standardized IVF lab can increase the conversion of the quality embryo from even a small number of eggs. This way, mothers can enjoy their pregnancy with quality embryos developed from their eggs.”
At WINGS IVF we support fertilization through the gametes of the couple and we forbid third party donation. Our advanced laboratories and techniques reduce attempts of IVF cycles. Lesser IVF attempts are an indirect solution to reduce third party donations. At WINGS IVF, an Advanced AHU lab with microfiltration, a closed system to handle the gametes and a close time-lapse incubator to grow the embryo add value to increasing qualitative embryo per egg which improves embryo formation even in an extremely difficult situation like low AMH, advanced maternal age, recurrent IVF failure which is the main reason where people are been explained for donor egg.
Infertility problems in India are ever-increasing. We consider ourselves a bridge between you and your road towards parenthood. At our hospital, we receive several patients with varied reasons for infertility. We take it as our responsibility to diagnose and treat them effectively. Our mission to bring joy into our patient’s life sets us apart from others. We put our best foot forward with advanced technology to let you enjoy your parenthood.
