Hailing from a family of doctors, it would be an easy guess that medicine was the first and last option on her mind. But, infertologist Dr Priya Selvaraj of GG Hospitals says that if she was given a choice in today’s times, she might have considered other options.
“I grew up in the time when medicine, engineering and law were the most recommended professions. My parents are doctors and so were my aunts and uncles. And, one aunt who starred in a movie still went back to medicine. While my grandfather was in movies, there was no attraction towards it. I have seen surgeries being performed when I was in class three, so blood and gore did not make me uncomfortable. Maybe, today if I were to be reborn, I would have chosen another career; maybe it would not even be medicine. In medicine too, I might have chosen to be in the administrative section,” says Dr Priya.
The daughter of Dr Kamala Selvaraj, a pioneer in the field of gynaecology, doesn’t cease to surprise you, as she says that the branch of medicine wasn’t the first choice.
“I did not have an inclination towards gynaecology; I preferred general medicine and intensive care. My dad told me that other specialities were more dynamic. It would have been cardiology or an ICU set up for me. But my mother wanted me to take it up. She told me it was a research-oriented field and I could engage in laboratory and perform surgery. So I took it up. Even birthing is dynamic,” she adds.
An alumnus of Annamalai University and Ramachandra Medical College, Dr Priya made a millennium entry into the profession in 2000.
A name to reckon with in the field, Dr Priya says that she has immense respect for gynaecologists and obstetricians, especially in a country where the importance of motherhood is deeply ingrained.
She adds that there have been long strides in the direction of medical advancements that today infertility too has a number of solutions and treatments.
Since the early eighties, India has become a hub for a baby boom, following the birth of the world’s second test tube baby in the country. “It was a revolutionary time when my mother started out in the field.
I don’t think anyone knew the magnitude of such a medical advancement,” she says.
From 1994 till date, GG Hospitals has seen close to 104 surrogates and 38 pregnancies. And, in three months of the new year, four surrogates have already been allotted for patients undergoing treatment.
But the country becoming a centre for surrogacy is not a crowning moment, says Dr Priya.
“There is nothing altruistic about it and in most cases people, who have a financial difficulty, become surrogate mothers and I feel sometimes it is about taking advantage of them,” she says.
She adds that since 2005 there have been efforts to come up with rules and regulations.
“We have an NGO, who brings in these mothers and we too keep a tab on the procedure, telling them to be careful on many counts. But there are so many legal issues and a lot of things are still unmonitored. For the last 10-12 years we are still sitting with rules and regulations. Take for instance there is no clarity on what is the procedure if a surrogate mother dies during pregnancy,” she adds.
While lot has changed — with medical advancements and increase in awareness among the general public — there is little change in people’s perceptions and attitude towards infertility.
That’s exactly makes it even more challenging for gynaecologists and obstetricians — they are dealing with two lives. “There is immense emotional energy spent too, we are dealing with women here,” she adds with a laugh.
With the biological advantage women have over men, procreating should be a joy. “It shouldn’t be looked at as a duty as that makes it stressful,” she says.