MADURAI: Despite being a loving mother of two teenaged daughters, 48-year-old Roja* longed for a son. It was this longing that led her to undergo intrauterine insemination (IUI).
The insemination proved to be a success and she gave birth to twins – a boy and a girl. But, her happiness lasted only three days, as she died of COVID-19 at Government Rajaji Hospital on June 19. The newborns have tested negative.
Roja's husband Ramu*, a resident of Palanganatham, gave in to her desire and consulted the Ellis Nagar branch of a leading Chennai-based fertility clinic last year. The woman reportedly conceived twins during the first attempt of IUI.
The delivery date was between June 18 and June 20. According to Ramu, Roja had diabetes, which was brought down to normal before the commencement of IUI treatment. However, she had developed hypertension during the pregnancy.
Recalling his visit to the fertility clinic on June 1, Ramu said, "When we reached for a routine check-up, she was admitted there over the fear of her contracting the infection if she stepped out frequently. As per their advice, we went to a private hospital on Melur Main Road for COVID-19 test. The results came negative."
On June 14, Roja took another Covid test and the samples were collected at the clinic. On June 15, the head of the chain of fertility clinics told Ramu that Roja had tested positive. "I was told to get her admitted to the Government Rajaji Hospital. After paying around Rs 55,000 for the 15-day stay, and spending Rs 7 lakh for the IUI procedure, we were out on road all by ourselves," Ramu added.
‘Is this how Covid patients are treated?’
Roja’s elder daughter said that barring a few hospital staff, none of the patients in fertility clinic knew that Roja was a Covid patient as they were not sent home by adopting appropriate infection-control measures. "We were neither directly referred to any dedicated Covid hospital nor was any vehicle arranged for my mother’s transport. We took a cab from the clinic to home," she claimed.
“If this is how a Covid patient is handled at the fertility clinic, one would not know how many such patients have been discharged casually. Besides, my wife did not step out of the house except for her visits to the clinic; she stayed indoors at the hospital during infection period,” Ramu claimed.
On June 16, around 7 am, Roja was taken to the GRH, where she delivered twins through a caesarean around 9.30 am. “After keeping well for two days, her condition deteriorated on the third day. She died on June 19. Till the end, we did not tell her about the infection. We wanted her to keep calm. Her last words to me were: Let us go home,” the daughter added.
Ramu’s younger daughter tested positive for Covid on June 18, and has been admitted to GRH. Roja’s elder sister, aged around 54, had died at the GRH the night before Roja was admitted for delivery. However, she had tested negative for the virus. The elder daughter refused to break down, saying.
Misfortune beyond death
Ramu claimed that a three-sovereign gold thali his wife wore at the time of death had gone missing. He noticed the ornament missing at the crematorium and complained about it to the GRH police station. However, he said no case had been registered.
(*Name changed)