After miscarriages, doctors help couple conceive

A Chandigarh-based couple who were suffering from translocation defect that led to multiple miscarriages have become the proud parents of a baby with the help of Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) technique performed at a city hospital here.

Experts at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said translocation defect is a genetic defect in the structural arrangements of chromosomes which interferes in the production of normal eggs and sperms and is a cause for repeated abortions.

“The couple had suffered multiple miscarriages. We offered them the technique of PGD. For detecting the translocation, we took them for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and we generated embryos by fertilising the women’s eggs with her husband’s sperms. “We were able to create three embryos. We then performed biopsy on each. During the process we took out one single cell from each one of them and each cell was subjected to genetic analysis to detect the translocation defect,” said Dr Gaurav Majumdar, chief embryologist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, which celebrated the completion of 25 years of IVF on Saturday.

After the tests, one embryo was found to be normal and that was transferred into the patient, resulting in a normal pregnancy.

“The whole thing is about predetermining which embryo has to be implanted after screening for the defect even before the pregnancy has been established. Usually it happens afterwards. A couple will conceive and then they will come in the third or fourth month and get an ultrasound done and then find it is defective and get an abortion done which is painful for the mother,” said Dr Abha Majumdar, director and head, Centre of IVF at SGRH.

“We have also performed PGD cycles for couples with single gene defects such a beta thalassaemia, citrullinemia, spinal muscular atrophy and muscular dystrophy,” she added.

PGD is a ray of hope for couples with single gene defects who otherwise are left with no option, but to repeatedly abort an affected foetus,” she added.

PGD helps couples who are carriers of genetic mutations to conceive babies free from an inherited disease.

Dr D.S. Rana, chairman (board of management), SGRH, said, “What sets us apart from all other IVF centres is that our centre is able to help a wide range of couples achieve their dreams because of the recent development of many cutting-edge treatment options.”