Woman gives birth through IVF, 11 months after husband’s Covid death

HYDERABAD: A 32-year-old woman from Telangana’s Mancherial district gave birth to a baby boy, 11 months after her 34-year-old husband succumbed to Covid-19, thanks to an in vitro fertilisation procedure.

The couple was married in 2013, doctors that carried out the procedure said, but was unable to conceive despite undergoing treatment. “The man was suffering from oligozoospermia — which means a reduced sperm count, as a result of which the wife could not conceive,” said Dr Jalagam Kavya, clinical head and fertility specialist at Oasis Fertility Hospital in Warangal, which the couple approached in the year 2020. The only option that remained was IVF which involves retrieving sperm from a male donor, in this case the husband, fertilising it with the egg taken from the woman in a laboratory, growing it for a few days, freezing it, and then implanting it in the woman (or a surrogate).

Doctors that carried out the procedure said that the fertilisation process was conducted successfully on March 3, 2021, and the embryo preserved in a freezer for implantation in the woman a few months later. “The couple were on cloud nine in the knowledge that they would have their first child in their arms within a few months,” Dr Kavya said.

But tragedy struck. In the second, lethal wave of Covid-19, driven by the Delta variant, both husband and wife caught the infection. While the woman recovered, her husband succumbed to the virus in the first week of April 2021. Even as she was grief stricken, and struggling to cope with the death of her husband, she was acutely aware of the embryo, and decided she wanted to be a mother.

HT is withholding the name and other details of the woman.

“In June, the woman approached us seeking the implantation of the frozen embryo. But we could not accept her request, because as per Indian Council Medical

Research guidelines, the consent of the husband is mandatory for such a procedure,” Dr Kavya said.

In July 2021, the woman approached the Telangana high court. “Fortunately, citing some precedents, within a week, the High Court gave its consent and this was communicated to us,” the doctor said.

On August 3, 2021, the doctors at the Oasis Fertility Centre conducted the transfer. “The chances of conceiving by the woman were rare because it was categorised as a C-grade embryo. It was a pleasant surprise that the implantation was successful and she could become pregnant,” Dr Kavya said. A C-grade embryo refers to a fair quality embryo.

On March 21 this year, the woman gave birth to a male child. “It was a new lease of life for her,” said Dr Kavya.

THE WOMAN MOVED THE HC SEEKING CONSENT TO PROCEED WITH THEIR IVF PROCEDURE TWO MONTHS AFTER HER HUSBAND DIED DUE TO COVID