When an Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao have a child via in-vitro fertilization or a Bollywood movie like Vicky Donor centres on sperm donation, people sit up and notice it. Having offspring is seen as the natural way of life and people are willing to go to any lengths to have their own and when they can’t naturally – they turn to Artificial Reproduction Techniques (ART). And it’s not only Indians that are obsessed with children – the fertility industry is a major part of India’s medical tourism industry – and India is fast becoming the surrogacy capital of the world. Experts say that the fertility business is worth a whopping Rs 13,033 crore. This has led to fertility clinics mushrooming up in all parts of the country which completely disregard all the Indian Council Of Medical Research (ICMR) rules, regulations and protocols of Artificial Reproduction Techniques.
Fertility quacks are not beyond giving heavy doses of hormones to a woman to make her ovulate (be it the conventional mother-to-be or the surrogate). Such is the social stigma attached to infertility in our society that women (there seems to be no ART for infertile men) are willing to go to any lengths to conceive. But first what is infertility? The medical definition of infertility is the failure to conceive following twelve months of unprotected intercourse. Infertility treatment looks to undo this.
If you indeed are looking to conceive using any of the ART methods be aware of the treatment you’re being given and its side-effects. We’ve tried to list some of the drugs used and their side-effects:
- Drugs which act by suppressing the natural menstrual cycle (Lucrin, Synarel, etc.) can have side-effects similar to menopause. You could experience hot flushes and mood swings.
- Gonadotrophin (Puregon/Gonalf/Humegon) is a hormone that stimulates the ovaries to produce more eggs. Side-effects may include weariness, mood swings, nausea and headache. Since the ovaries swell up some patients complain of additional pelvic pressure. In rare cases, the ovary may rotate and twist leading to bleeding and requires surgery. These conditions usually continue for the second half of the cycle and may last up to three months if pregnancy is successful.
- Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin (HCG/PROFASI/PREGNYL) facilitates the final maturing of the oocyte (oocyte is a cell that goes on to become the ovum or the egg and is more uncomfortable than other injections. It’s often called the ‘trigger’ injection.
- Another drug which is used is Clomiphene (Clomid/Serophene) which looks to stimulate the pituitary to produce extra oocytes. Here too the side-effects include headaches, weariness, occasional visual disturbance and hot flushes.
- Some drugs like doxycycline and progesterone don’t actually help produce oocytes but help in other ways by protecting the embryo or thickening the uterine walls. Side-effects of doxycycline include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, skin rashes and photosensitivity whereas progesterone can cause perianal pain, headaches, nausea and drowsiness.
Ovarian Hyper Stimulation Syndrome
A more specific problem which occurs in about 1-2% of patients who undergo super-ovulation induction is a problem called Ovarian Hyper-stimulation syndrome (OHSS).
Essentially fluid from the bloodstream leaks into the abdominal cavity causing it to swell. Several symptoms include respiratory issues, kidney failure and arterial and venous thrombosis. Rarely cases could see a lack of blood supply to the brain and other vital organs. Patients who suffer severe OHSS must be hospitalised and treated. This treatment would involve the infusion of intravenous fluids and the fluid in the abdomen may need draining off.
The ICMR guidelines dictate that it’s the doctor’s the duty to tell their patients about all the side-effects of the treatments. It’s imperative to know them before going for any procedure. Women who suffer from health issues, particularly cardiovascular or blood pressure issues have to be even more careful. Having children may seem like the most important thing in the world, but conceiving shouldn’t be at the cost of your partner’s, wife’s or even an unknown surrogate’s health and well-being.
First Published: Jul 18, 2012 at 8:35 AM
Does anyone else hate the Twilight seeirs?Okay so back in 2006 when I first read Twilight, I was totally in love with it right? Like .to me, since I hadn’t read many books it was SO different to me because there was a new look on vampires.But now, looking back and truly breaking down all of the books, I am highly disappointed.TWILIGHT: a story about a beautiful gorgeous smart sensible manpire who falls in love with plain Jane who is apparently NOT that plain, since everybody thinks she’s so hot in Forks. Ok..then it talks about how in love they both are after only a couple of weeks well alright then all of a sudden she wants to become a vampire?? HOLD THE PHONE..you don’t even really know this guy! And don’t tell me you do because Ma’am, if you knew him you’d know he was a freakin stalker who stared at you while you slept!! EWWW WTH??? Okay..okay then..Oh, and btw, since when the hell do vampires SPARKLE in the sun?? And since when is this bad?? Glitter was invented NEW MOON: boy leaves girl, she almost dies numerous times, leads on a werewolf, and her wimpy little ex boyfriends tries to commit suicide because he thinks his precious, whom he cares about sooo much by leaving her out in the woods,..is dead. But then THERE’S A TWIST! ..He did all of this and put her through all of this pain because ..*drumroll please* HE LOVES HER! Ah! At least Steph got this one right MEN SAY THEY DID IT BECAUSE THEY LOVE YOU OH SO MUCH AND IT WAS THE BEST THING FOR YOU !! Super special vampire OR just a regular man who dresses in glitter and talks like he’s old? Oh wait, he’s not a regular man..a regular man wouldn’t still be a virgin at the age of 109. Gay? Or just waiting 100 years from that special someone? You do the math. And then the author tried to get scary and introduces the volturi who..the hell are they supposed to scare?!ECLIPSE: we learn Edward and Bella are the dullest characters out of the whole book and their love story is getting quite olddd. All the other vampires seem to be much more interesting and we wonder why Meyer just didn’t write a book about the fantastic voyages of the Cullens and their pasts?!?! Oh, the the werewolf tried to uhh..rape but not really rape Bella. Reality of it all? Doesn’t work. Uhm, oh yeah that one bad chick from the 1st book also comes back. Dude, she’s been in 2 books already and had vampires AND werewolves after her. She’s a chick! She honestly CANNOT be that hard to kill! Someone get me a stake! Oh and, in the end NO SEX.BREAKING DAWN: hahahahahaha. My favorite..Bella and Edward get married, go on their honeymoon, have this hardcore but totally bleeped out sex, Bella and Edward talk about periods and PMS, she gets knocked up somehow even tho these vampires are supposed to be like frozen..meaning his sperm would be frozen too so the author just contradicts herself, the pregnancy process is supernaturally fast and gross, Edward turns Bella into a vampire, she has the baby, the volturi want to kill the baby, and the werewolf, Jacob, who has been after Bella this whole time falls in love with the BABY. OMG! GREAT ENDING! Really? Really? This is it? Possibly the worst best seller since Paris Hilton’s crappy not-even-written-by-her book. Congratulations Stephenie Meyer, you have brainwashed the teens of this generation to1) look for a vampire2) lead on a werewolf3) beg for sex from their boyfriends till they get it4) totally forget about the classic vampires like Vampira and good vamp flicks like Interview with a Vampire which was really not intended fro childrenBut hey, she’s Mormon..can’t expect REAL gore and sex from her..TWILIGHT SAGA: One step up from the Count on Sesame Street!! You Go Glen Coco!!(:Lol..this is just MY opinion, okaaay? Plus, I thought it was pretty entertaining, wouldn’t you agree?
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