Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

Government urged to frame rules to monitor fertility centres

Special Correspondent

Mushrooming of these clinics worrying, say experts

CHENNAI: The State Government should proactively draw up rules to regulate the setting up and monitor the functioning of fertility centres, speakers at a consultation on sex selection and assisted reproduction techniques said.

The mushrooming of fertility treatment centres that use assisted reproduction techniques to help women conceive was worrying, they said. Currently, no law governed these clinics, and there was no monitoring of what was going on in

P. Phavalam, convenor, Campaign Against Sex Selective Abortion, spoke about the effects these techniques could have on the health of women. Some of the known side effects of the processes (during shutting down ovaries, stimulating them, extracting the eggs and post-delivery) were hypertension, asthma, nausea, vomiting, depression, kidney damage and even cardiac arrest.

Apart from the risks for the would-be mothers, the ramifications such procedures would have on egg donors and surrogate mothers, mostly hailing from the lower socio-economic groups, would have to be considered.

Regenerative medicine too, she said, involved `commercialisation' of the woman's body. The eggs provided the embryonic stem cell, from the foetus was derived the foetal stem cell, cord blood also provided stem cells and the woman's womb was used for surrogating the child.

The causes that led to infertility must be studied and attempts made for a course correction, instead of trying to treat a symptom by using these techniques.

Tracing the history of the women's movement's engagement with reproductive technologies, K. Kalpana, a researcher, pointed out how the issue received very little attention. While the movements against foetal sex determination and harmful contraception were bolstered with strong support from women's groups, she said assisted reproduction techniques were not being handled with the force it required.

S. Sudha, convenor, CASSA, presented the results of a field study conducted among fertility clinics in Madurai, Salem and Coimbatore. The success rate was between 20 and 30 per cent and multiple foetuses were the norm, the study revealed.

Obstetricians and gynaecologists and representatives of women's movements and the Government participated in the discussions.

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