A twin bonanza: Pals become parents in 50s

Express News Service Posted: May 14, 2008 at 0051 hrs
Kolkata, May 13 The Pal house in Asansol is overwhelmed with joy. They can hardly wait for the arrival of two sixteen-day-old twins. For, it is no less than a miracle for the 52-year-old Sarbani Pal and her 55-year-old husband Sital Das Pal, as they had given up all hope of having their own child.

This was made possible due to the relentless effort of doctors of Genome, a private city-based infertility

treatment centre of Bhagirathi Neotia Women and Child Care Centre.

Accompanied by her husband Sital Das Pal, who is a businessman, Sarbani visited the Durgapur branch of Genome in early 2007.

“We were not too sure if Sarbani could bear a child. It was more than a decade that her menstrual cycle had stopped. Hence, ovum had to be imported from a suitable donor. The husband also suffered from a low sperm count,” said Dr Rohit Gutgutia, the head of the treatment centre.

“The couple had to be counselled for two months,” added Gutgutia. Apart from a small tumor, the doctors found no abnormalities in Sarbani’s uterus. Also, the younger sister of Sarabani volunteered to donate her ovum.

The donor had to be injected for enhancing the quality of her ovum. Similarly, Sital had to be put on medication to ensure fertilisation. Finally, the embryo was transplanted in Sarbani's uterus in July 2007.

“The patient developed symptoms of jaundice and suffered from high blood pressure,” said Dr Ranjit Chakraborty, who conducted a caesarean on Sarbani on April 29. “The premature delivery has not affected the health of the infants. Weighing around 1.5 kg, the babies are absolutely normal,” said Pediatrician Chandan Roy.

“We always wanted to have a child of our own. But, unfortunately, it has not been possible in all these years of our married life,” said Sital Das Pal.