The Center for Human Reproduction (CHR), the infertility and in-vitro fertilization (IVF) facility of Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital here, has turned into a beacon of hope for hundreds of couples battling infertility, including from outside India.

“That couples, suffering from infertility, from other states and even outside the country are pinning their hopes on CHR is a cause of satisfaction for us,” Prof. (Dr.) Pushparaj Samantasinhar, Medical Superintendent of the hospital, said while speaking at a function organised to mark the World IVF Day on Tuesday.

A childless couple from Chapai Nawabganj district of Bangladesh, who are married for 19 years, have been under treatment at the CHR and are hopeful of success in having a child.

The center was observing all the rules laid down by the government for IVF treatment, Prof. (Dr.) Samantasinhar said.

The World IVF Day is celebrated to commemorate the scientific strides and progress made in the field of infertility and reproductive endocrinology.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. (Dr.) Sanghamitra Mishra, Dean of IMS and SUM Hospital, said a separate department of Reproductive Medicine would start functioning in the hospital soon.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), around 25 per cent of the 60 to 80 million couples suffering from infertility every year worldwide lived in India while one in every four couples in developing countries was affected by infertility.

Infertility, which affects approximately 15 per cent of Indian couples, is viewed as a major problem with far reaching consequences, Prof. (Dr.) Sujata Pradhan, Professor and Head of CHR, said.

Myriad causes including late marriages which is becoming the norm, stressful lifestyle, obesity, junk food intake, smoking, alcoholism and drug addiction were responsible for the problem, she said.

According to the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), there has been an enhancement of infertility rate in India during the last two decades.

Detailing the causes of infertility, Prof. (Dr.) Pradhan said the top five causes of infertility in women included Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), Endometriosis, tubal blockages, poor egg condition and ovulation problems.

The problem is being handled successfully at the CHR since 2012 which is the first infertility unit in Odisha to provide IVF treatment in a medical college hospital with benefits of multidisciplinary care, she said.

The centre which was enrolled under the ICMR in 2013, has been registered under the Odisha State Board for Assisted Reproductive Technique (ART) as a Level 2 ART clinic.

“Our mission and vision is to individually care for every infertile couple for near exact diagnosis of the problem and specific treatment reducing time to achieve pregnancy with minimal side effects,” Prof. (Dr.) Pradhan said adding the cost of the treatment had been kept at an affordable level.

The centre’s facilities included couple counseling, transvaginal scan, ovulation induction and follicular monitoring, fertility enhancing laparoscopic surgeries, semen analysis, intrauterine insemination (IUI), in-vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), surgical sperm retrieval procedures (TESA/PESA), semen and embryo freezing and donor sperm IUI and IVF.

CHR’s success rate was at par with the global trend of ART achievement at 48.1 per cent for IVF and 14 per cent for IUI, Prof. (Dr.) Pradhan said.

Apart from basic and advanced fertility treatment, CHR has the facility for fertility preservation for both sexes prior to undergoing chemotherapy or pelvic radiation as cancer therapy, she said.