Bangalore-based Gunasheela IVF Centre, a pioneering institute in IVF treatment, has produced the first Indian baby born through the unique process of Invitro Maturation of immature oocytes.

The technique involves the removal of immature eggs from the woman's ovaries and maturing them in hormones and the mother's blood in a laboratory dish for 28 to 36 hours. The eggs are then fertilized by direct sperm injection and the resulting embryos are implanted in the womb. Women suffering from polycystic ovarian syndrome and infertility are the ideal candidates for the treatment.

Dr. Sulochana Gunasheela, scientific director, Gunasheela IVF Centre, said, "Invitro maturation of immature oocytes retrieved from unstimulated or partially stimulated ovaries and using them in Assisted Reproductive Techniques is now an alternative mode of treatment. The baby born through this technique at our IVF Centre is now three months old.

With this achievement in infertility, the Gunasheela IVF Centre is now one of the centres in the world specialized in the area of Invitro maturation. Currently, there are only 250 babies in the world born through the procedure of Invitro Maturation (IVM) of raw eggs.

The success of invitro fertilization depends on the perfection of technology to produce good quality eggs to produce good embryos. To collect such embryos from an individual, many stimulating agents are used in various ways to manipulate the ovary to yield optimal type of eggs. The technique of manipulation requires subtle changes in the administration pattern since different women have different causes of infertility, said Dr. Gunasheela.

An optimal number of 7-8 quality mature (pre-ovulatory) eggs are required and eggs of various grades of maturity-grossly immature to post mature and degenerated eggs are sought. There are situations where the ovary cannot be stop growing on its own and ends up yielding 40-50 eggs. Such ovaries produce systemic disturbances resulting in collection of free fluid in the abdominal and plural cavity, which can cause respiratory distress. The blood can thicken and clot in vessels causing coagulation disorders leading to ovarian Hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). The eggs cannot be fertilized which results in disappointment and financial loss to the couple. The doctors suffer from frustration and a sense of helplessness besides losing credibility with the patients she said.

One must know how to handle immature ova, which have not yet halved their genetic content so as to contribute the right number of genes to combine with a similar half from the sperm of the male partner. This process of maturation division that takes places in the ovum has to occur in the laboratory when one deliberately takes out the immature ovum. This is known as invitro maturation of oocytes (IVM).

The key benefits of the IVM are that the procedure is cheaper because drugs used to stimulate the ovaries to form the eggs is reduced. The protocol is simple with less drugs being used and less monitoring to be done and thereby less stressful for the patient. Around 60 per cent of women in infertility clinics have polycystic ovarian syndrome and are at a risk of developing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), which can be overcome by adopting the method of IVM.