India’s first test-tube baby Harsha Shah became a mother after giving birth to a healthy baby boy weighing 3.18 kilos at Jaslok Hospital on Monday morning.“I am god’s gift and I believe my baby is also his gift,” said the mother in a feeble voice, still recovering from the surgery at Jaslok Hospital in Peddar Road. “My baby is a blessing for me and there are no words to explain what I feel at this moment,” she said.
Her husband Divyapal Shah is excited to be a father. He said, “I am very happy and can’t wait to take Harsha and the baby to our home.” The delivery was carried out under the supervision of Dr Indira Hinduja and her team who had delivered Harsha’s mother at KEM Hospital on 6th August 1986.
“Harsha has been in touch with us all her life. We meet and interact with her on a regular basis. It is but natural that she chose us to help deliver her baby ” said Dr Kusum Zaveri, who is a part of both the teams.
Dr Hinduja said that “Harsha’s mother had suffered from tuberculosis, which had permanently damaged her fallopian tubes. She was desperate to have a baby, and after explaining the new technique of In-Vetro fertilization (IVF). IVF is the process by which eggs are removed from your ovaries and mixed with sperm in a laboratory culture dish. Fertilisation takes place in this dish, “in vitro”, which means “in glass”. Thousands of IVF babies have been born since the first in 1978. She agreed to it immediately and few weeks later, Maniben’s pregnancy test came positive”.
Her mother, Mani Chawda, is thankful for that. She had told in an interview that having Harsha was the happiest moment of her life. She had also expressed her concern that even though the Vitro fertilisation has become very successful, not a single insurance company has shown interest in covering IVF.
Doctor’s said that Harsha’s pregnancy was smooth and uneventful which indicates that test-tube babies can deliver normally without any complications. Dr Hinduja added that “There is no reason why test tube babies cannot conceive normally. In Harsha’s case, we had to do a C-Section because it indicated a breach presentation. Because of our bond with Harsha, she will always be special to us.”