US woman’s Mumbai miracle

Loses Uterus To Cervical Cancer, But Becomes Mother Through Surrogacy When 38-year-old US resident Joy held her baby Samuel for the first time in Lilavati Hospital on November 24, a mixture of emotions flooded her heart. She felt immensely proud of the small being in her arms born from a part of her own body, at the same time gratitude welled up in her eyes for Rekha, the surrogate mother who gave birth to Samuel.      Joy underwent in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), but it was still a miracle of sorts that she got a baby of her own, especially since she suffered from cervical cancer at the age of 21 and had to undergo hysterectomy then. But when she and her husband Kelly were told it was possible for them to have a child of their own, they started looking for IVF facilities across the world and zeroed in on Mumbai.      "We came last December. We were not sure as the chances are less in IVF. Even so, we contacted Surrogacy India. Last December the embryo could not successfully make the surrogate mother pregnant. Then, we came back in March. My egg and my husband's sperm was taken and the embryo formed was planted in the surrogate. It was then that Rekha successfully concieved,'' said Joy.      But doctors say Joy and Kelly are one lucky couple. "Since Joy's ovaries were shifted higher up in her abdominal cavity during the treatment of her cervical cancer, we could not take her eggs through the trans-vaginal technique. We had to retrieve the egg laproscopically from her abdomen,'' said Dr Hrishikesh Pai, infertility specialist attatched to Lilawati Hospital.      But another reason doctors consider Joy and Kelly to be lucky is because when Joy underwent IVF, only one egg could be retrieved. "Normally, we target 10-15 eggs and two to three embryos are planted in the uterus of the surrogate mother. But Joy formed only one egg and that too we had to retrieve laproscopically from her abdomen. It was quite complicated. Only one embryo was formed and chances of the surrogate mother becoming pregnant with that embryo were quite slim. But everything turned out to be fine,'' said IVF specialist Dr Nandita Palshetkar, who along with Dr Pai performed the operation.      The entire procedure cost them $23,000, but the couple are over the moon. "We are going back to Minnesota on Friday. Never in our wildest dreams did we think everything would go this smoothly,'' said Kelly, holding his blue-eyed son in his arms. "We have got quite attached to the doctors and the surrogate mother of our baby. It feels bad to leave this new family behind,'' added Joy. JOY'S BUNDLE OF JOY  What is Cervical Cancer  Cervical cancer is an abnormal growth of cancer cells in the opening of the uterus connected to the upper vagina, known as the neck of the uterus  The Problem  Joy was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1992 at the age of 21, so her uterus had to be removed, but ovaries were pushed up into her abdominal cavityProcedure The Couple Underwent      In December 2008, Joy and Kelly came to Mumbai, chose a surrogate mother, signed the papers and four eggs were taken from her and planted in the uterus of Rekha. But the procedure was not successful      This March, the couple returned and repeated the procedure. This time, only one egg was formed, resulting in one embryo. This embryo was successfully planted and fertilised in Rekha's womb      The couple returned to India on November 23 for the delivery. The baby was born on November 24 Surrogacy Guidelines Any information about clients and donors must be kept confidential, except with the person's (to whom the information is related) consent  All relavant information must be given to the patient before the treatment is started  No treatment should be given without the written consent of the couple to all the possible stages of the treatment People seeking registered treatment must be given counselling  No more than three embryos must be placed in a woman in any one cycle  Highest possible standards in the storage and handling of gamates and embryos in respect to their security, recording and identification, should be followed  (Guidelines Of The Indian Council Of Medical Research) What Is In Vitro Fertilisation  In vitro fertilization is when the eggs from a woman and a sperm of a man are taken and infused together. An embryo thus formed, is planted in the uterus of the surrogate mother. The woman may or may not become pregnant with the embryo. Generally, 10-15 eggs of a woman are retrieved and 2-3 embryos are planted in the uterus of the surrogate mother Baby Samuel