Chennai: Surrogate baby for cancer survivor

Chennai: In a rare instance in the country, a girl child was born through surrogacy following egg extraction from an ovary transpositioned under the skin at G G Hospitals recently.

The 32-year-old biological mother of the child was diagnosed with early-grade uterine cancer at the age of 27 for which she underwent hysterectomy, which is the removal of uterus and left ovary.

“Left only with the right ovary, the mother underwent an IVF treatment after the right ovary was moved to the anterior abdominal wall (just underneath the skin) that became the unique access point for egg extraction during IVF treatment. In patients who have preserved their ovaries, the transposition is done by laparoscopy above the pelvic brim in order to prevent the effects of radiation,” said Dr Priya Selvaraj, obstetrician and gynecologist, G G Hospital.

There are a very few published cases across the world where eggs have been extracted via an abdominal approach using laparoscopy but none where the extraction was done percutaneously from an ovary located under the skin.

After the successful procedure, a healthy girl baby weighing 2.62 kg was born to the mother on February 16. The first successful birth following this method was reported in 2004 by Dr Jacques Donnez from Saint-Luc in Brussels. So far 60 births have been taken place worldwide.

“This is a new technique with regards to ovarian position and technique of Retrieving eggs. It gives hope for a biological child even years after surgery. Cancer patients who have undergone radical surgeries such as this case may be given a chance to have their own biological child through a surrogate,” explained Dr Priya.