The Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded Monday to British physiologist Robert Edwards, known worldwide as the “father” of the test-tube baby, comes at a significant juncture. Male and female infertility rates have been going up sharply across the world, with at least one in 10 married couples unable to bear children. Thanks to environmental pollutants, the phenomenon of infertility has also started showing another alarming trend — mothers passing on infertility to their sons at birth.
It is in this context that the importance of the in vitro fertilisation (IVF) technique should be understood. IVF has come a long way since it was first conceived in Dr Edwards’ laboratory in the 1970s, and today it is one of the most sought-after medical intervention procedures when all other assisted reproductive techniques have failed. Though IVF has brought cheer to the otherwise gloomy world of infertile couples, it still continues to be a difficult proposition for most ordinary people around the world because of the prohibitive cost involved. But that does not in any way discount the fact that it is a modern miracle.
Almost four decades have passed since Dr Edwards successfully discovered the secret of growing life outside the body. It took him and fellow researcher Patrick Steptoe (who died in 1988) a few more years to make it a cuddlesome reality — in the form of Louise Brown, the world’s first baby conceived outside a mother’s womb. Thanks to Dr Edwards, infertility, particularly female sterility, is no longer a curse. The IVF miracle has brought happiness to over four million families across the globe. This medical technique has been perfected over the years so much so that the success rate of an IVF couple conceiving a child has equalled that of a normal, healthy couple. The success ratio is now 5:1: which means that one in five attempts ends in a successful pregnancy.
Kudos to the never-say-die spirit of Dr Edwards, who, despite being forced into a corner by religious fundamentalists opposed to the test-tube technology, carried on his research till he achieved success. His challenging spirit inspired doctors around the world to practice the IVF technique more vigorously. In India, despite its deep-rooted religious beliefs and cultural traditions, IVF is not looked upon as a taboo any longer — despite the controversy surrounding the birth of Durga, this country’s first and the world’s second test-tube baby, just three months after Louise Brown came into the world. (The Kolkata doctor who made that possible, Subhas Mukherji, and two of his colleagues had to face ridicule and humiliation at the hands of the medical fraternity and subjected to a government-appointed inquisition — to such an extent that he was driven to take his own life three years later. Posthumously, decades later, he received belated recognition from the Indian Council of Medical Research, which acknowledged that he too had made significant contributions of his own to IVF techniques.) Today India is one of the few nations where this form of assisted reproductive technology has reached its zenith. Of the four million children born through IVF and allied technologies worldwide, India accounts for almost half a million. It is undeniable that IVF brought hope to millions of couples who would otherwise have no chance of having children.
The task now before researchers and administrators is to bring down the cost of IVF technology to an affordable level so that the joy of having children can be shared by poor couples too. Another major challenge is fighting environmental pollution that is leading to female infertility. Endometriosis, mostly linked to chemical pollutants, has emerged as an important cause of infertility in women these days. Unless this is arrested, no quantum of advancement in IVF technology will help couples. The Nobel Prize will hopefully motivate scientists to apply their inquisitive minds in this area as well.