DUBAI: The Dubai Gynaecology and Fertility Centre (DGFC) has reported an increase in the number of patients coming in for infertility treatment, even as their pregnancy rate has gone up to 64 per cent.
Speaking to XPRESS ahead of Mother's Day, Dr Awatif Al Bahar, Medical Director of DGFC, said, "A total of 1,077 new patients came to the centre in 2011, as against 1,002 in 2010, with the number of procedures going up to 1,060 from 858. The number of follow-up cases too saw an increase from 748 in 2010 to 882 in 2011."
Infertility can result from one or both partners and is caused by several factors like abnormal sperm production or function in the male, ovulation disorders in the female, their general health and lifestyle issues.
Dr Awatif said many patients went in for the pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to determine genetic defects in the embryos before they could be transferred to the uterus. "The introduction of this microarray diagnosis in 2010 is helping answer a number of queries as we can now examine embryos for a range of 46 abnormalities that can occur in the chromosomes."
Dr Awatif said the tests are valuable for those who have repeated abortions, pregnancy failures, old mothers and families that have a history of genetic abnormalities.
While an early-stage embryo cannot be ill or have symptoms of a disease, it can have a genetic condition that can lead to disease, so the screening helps identify and keep out embryos at risk.
Meanwhile, various techniques to assist pregnancies helped achieve a 64 per cent pregnancy rate at the centre in 2011. Giving a breakdown, Dr Awatif said the earliest Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) technique, which is employed in cases where a man's sperm count is low or of poor quality, had seen a success rate of 73 per cent, as against invitro fertilisation, which recorded a pregnancy rate of 46 per cent.
Explaining the difference between the two procedures, she said IVF, which is mainly designed to address female infertility, entails the fertilisation of the egg outside the woman's womb unlike ICSI — where a carefully selected sperm is injected directly into the egg and is used in cases where the male has an infertility issue. Mays Al Adham, Clinical Embryologist, said procedures entailing frozen eggs and embryos which are employed for social, medical or other reasons also achieved high pregnancy rates of 50 and 70 per cent in 2011.
Marking Mother's Day
The DGFC organised a function at the Dubai Creek Park on Wednesday morning to celebrate Mother's Day. Several women who've delivered through assisted pregnancies came together with their spouses and little ones.
"I am so happy to be here with my son. This is the first time I am a mum," said Noor, 34, from Syria who delivered Omar 10 months ago after undergoing treatment at the centre. Yvonne MacDonald, 42, said she was enjoying every bit of her motherhood with one-year-old Oscar. "He's a little gem and is all over the place as he has just started crawling," said the South African who also received treatment at DGFC. Her sentiments were echoed by Elvira from Ukraine who had come with her one-year-and-two-month old daughter Sameera.
Another mother Toulia Drouzia, 41, from Morocco who came along with eight-month-old Samy, said, "The treatment I received at DGFC was successful in the very first attempt."
