For several years before she was diagnosed with breast cancer, S. Hemalatha and her husband A. Sivakumar, had gone from one fertility centre to another, trying to have a baby. But nothing yielded results, and once the couple knew Hemalatha had cancer they focused on beating the disease.
Last April though, five years after her cancer treatment was completed, 42-year-old Hemalatha approached Iswarya Women’s Hospital and Fertility Centre, determined to try again.
“We were worried at first, wondering if a pregnancy could bring back the cancer, as it leads to a surge in hormone levels. She had had a double mastectomy and had undergone chemo-radiation. We investigated her thoroughly and found no signs of metastasis. We also explained the risks to her. Since her ovaries had shrunk, we used an egg donor and her husband’s sperm to develop an embryo and implant it via in-vitro fertilisation,” said S. Chandralekha, director of the hospital.
In January, Ms. Hemalatha delivered a healthy male baby, weighing 2.5 kg at the hospital’s Coimbatore centre, Dr. Chandralekha said.
“After 20 years of marriage and the cancer treatment, I had told my wife to forget about having a child. But she really wanted to have one. For us, this is a huge blessing,” said Mr. Sivakumar, who is from Kumbakonam.
Dr. Chandralekha said the hospital was planning to record the case in international journals of reproductive medicine. “Some treatments for cancer have the potential to decrease fertility. But this case offers hope to cancer survivors who want to have children,” she said.
