Karnataka’s first baby through Magnetic Activated Cell Sorting born at Nova IVI

Bengaluru : Nova IVI Fertility, India’s leading chain of fertility centres, announced the first reported instance of a baby born in Bengaluru through an advanced ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) technique to treat male infertility Magnetic Activated Cell Sorting (MACS). Preetha and Arun (names changed), aged 36 and 45 respectively, were married for 14 years without a child. Initially, Preetha conceived twice naturally, but miscarried both times. The couple then turned to assisted reproductive technology (ART) to conceive. While the first IVF cycle resulted in a pregnancy, it lead to an abortion in six weeks. Preetha had a second failed IVF cycle before she consulted Dr. Santosh Gupta at Nova IVI Fertility.

Dr. Santosh Gupta, Fertility Consultant at Nova IVI Fertility, Bengaluru said, “Preetha’s egg reserve was fine and no other infertility factors were diagnosed in her. When Arun’s semen parameters were analysed, we found that the sperm count, motility and morphology were normal. However, we suggested MACS to filter healthy sperms for ICSI, which is a specialised form of IVF that involves the injection of a single, healthy sperm into a mature egg. When three healthy embryos were transferred into the uterus, one of them grew to become a healthy baby. Infertility is not a female problem only. Male factor equally contributes to infertility, which is about 40-45% of all infertility cases in Bengaluru. With advanced ART techniques like MACS, we are now able to tackle male infertility in a more efficient way.”

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Arun said, “We had almost lost all hope of being a parent. But now when we look at our baby, we are completely elated and thankful to the doctors for making our dream come true. We were worried and apprehensive but the counsel, guidance, personal attention and the transparency on the treatment given by the Nova team gave us confidence to go ahead. I request all parents who cannot conceive naturally, not to be disheartened and depressed. There is always hope!”

Magnetic Activated Cell Sorting (MACS) is a semen selection technique that involves the magnetic separation of non-apoptotic spermatozoa from apoptotic spermatozoa which have less fertility potential. The apoptosis (programmed cell death) is a regulation process of the cell cycle which may occur during spermatogenesis (the process of development of sperm cells or spermatozoa), thereby causing cell damages such as sperm DNA fragmentation. MACS helps isolate better sperms from the ones which are on the verge of death. This helps achieve better fertilisation rate, cleavage rate, implantation rate and pregnancy rate.

“MACS is recommended in cases with high sperm DNA Fragmentation Index, poor fertilisation rate in previous IVF-ICSI cycle, two or more failed IVF cycles and repeated miscarriage among others. Factors like smoking, varicocele, stress, pollution, etc. are seen to be responsible for the higher level of apoptotic spermatozoa found in the ejaculate. We have used MACS in over 55 cases in Bengaluru and a pregnancy rate of about 55% per embryo transfer is achieved in these cases. We see that people are now more open to this technology and there is an increase in the acceptance of MACS in the past 10 months.” Dr. Santosh adds.

MACS is known to be an effective method to treat male infertility and stands tall as a huge relief for many couples as well as fertility experts. Given the steady increase in the number of infertility cases reported in India, such advanced ART techniques like MACS come as a boon to several childless couples in the nation.