Urgent need to integrate genetic screening into mainstream fertility care
On World IVF Day, our Community Health expert *Dr Naresh Purohit, (Executive Member-Federation of Reproductive Health Services-India), diagnoses the pros and cons of rising Fertility Business!
New Delhi/Bhopal: India’s fertility market is booming due to rising infertility rates attributable to lifestyle diseases, delayed parenthood, and genetic disorders.
IVF (In-Vitro- Fertilisation) can prevent genetic disorders from being passed to offspring.
Diseases such as hemoglobinopathies, thalassemia and certain types of muscular dystrophies can now be effectively eradicated through meticulous genetic screening. However, an ethical dilemma of ‘designer babies’ lurks on the horizon.
Genetic screening plays a key role in modern fertility care. Preimplantation Genetic Testing is helping couples overcome recurrent pregnancy. failures and avoid inherited. disorder
There is an urgent need to integrate genetic screening, into, mainstream fertility care to. improve chances of healthy babies, and avoid failed pregnancies.
The procedure of Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT) to select embryos without abnormalities for implantation can have better, assurance of a successful pregnancy and has better chances of a healthy baby.
PGT helps to determine if the baby would be born with inherited, disorders such as Thalassemia or Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) before the pregnancy even occurs
It is not obligatory for couples with genetic problems to seek sperm or egg donation, to opt for adoption. or to refrain from. marriage or childbearing entirely.
Advanced genetic screening is transforming the success rates of IVF and. identifying the underlying causes of unexplained infertility.
Genetic screening has been of exceptional service to patients who had no hope of bearing a healthy child due to being carriers of serious inherited conditions.
When a couple is not able to conceive through a natural conjugal relationship, but both the partners are healthy and have no apparent issues with their reproductive systems, there can be underlying genetic issues that can lead to unsuccessful pregnancies. That is why in such cases, genetic screening can help bring about positive change.
*Dr. Narresh Purohit-MD, DNB, DIH, MHA, MRCP(UK), is an Epidemiologist, 
and Advisor-National Communicable Disease Control Program of Govt. of India, Madhya Pradesh and several state Health organizations. He’s the Principle Investigator – Association of Studies In Behavioural Science), Dr. Purohit is also Advisor-National Mental Health Program .