Parents go for IVF to get male child

Hyderabad: Many couples are looking at in-vitro fertilisation as a way to beget a male child and are requesting gynaecologists or infertility specialists to ensure the same. Such requests are seen from patients who have fertility issues as well as those who have lost a child. Dr Preeti Reddy, a senior infertility specialist, said, “There are requests from desperate parents who are also under societal pressure for a male child.” While IVF is a procedure to ensure that women who have problems in conception are able to conceive, many are also looking at it as an option to get a male child.

Senior gynaecologist Dr Shivani Goud said, “It’s a misconception that one can get a male child through IVF. People are not willing to understand that knowing the gender of the child is a crime in the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act. The counselling team has to take such couples through three to four sessions to get over misconceptions.”

Often, couples and their extended family members are not willing to take a ‘no’ for an answer, and it needs a medico-legal team to explain them the legalities. A senior gynaecologist said, “Such cases are rare but we do witness them when there is immense pressure on the woman and also the doctor to ensure birth of a male child. The contention is that doctors are aware of the gender and they must disclose it to the parents. Often gynaecologists have to be strict if the husband and the relatives are not relenting.”

In these cases, counselling is carried out every trimester so that the couple accepts the gender and does not raise a hue and cry in the hospital after the birth of the child.