The excitement is palpable in Dhundarka village of Mandsaur. A childless couple, who was not able to conceive a child for over 35 years, has recently given birth to a boy through IVF. The mother is 50 and father 54 years old.

“The couple is blessed by the advancements in technology. It is amazing to see the satisfying shine on their faces,” said IVF specialist Shweta Agarwal of R.K.Hospital & Infertility (IVF) Center Udaipur.

The couple, Sushila and Suratram, said that they had been trying for a child and undergoing treatment and visited various temples also in past 30 years now. The father is a correspondent in local news magazine. Getting older, the social urge to have a child became more intense and the couple decided to give technology another shot.

“Sohandevi is uneducated, but she understood all about the treatment and was very patient. And by god’s grace she got pregnant in the first attempt of IVF only”, said Dr.Shweta Agarwal.

According to Dr.Shweta Agarwal chances of getting pregnant decreases as the age advances and as Smt.Sushila was menopausal for last 10 years and husband sperm count was very low so we used IVF ICSI technique along with egg donation.

ICSI is an acronym for intracytoplasmic sperm injection – which is a fancy way of saying “inject sperm in the middle of the egg”. ICSI is an effective method to fertilize eggs in the IVF lab after they have been retrieved from the female.

“We had counseled the couple about the challenges of getting a child so late in life, but they were ready. When we placed the son in her lap, she seemed content,” Dr Shweta said.

Dr.Shweta said that the Sohandevi’s case only highlights the acceptability IVF has gained in the society. “People from lower socio-economic strata who are not very educated are getting comfortable with IVF with donated eggs but do not accept surrogacy. They feel that society will accept the child better if the child is reared in her own womb”, says Dr Shweta.