CHENNAI: A 32-year-old woman became the first mother to give birth through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment done at a government hospital in Tamil Nadu.
The successful procedure was performed at the Centre for Assisted Reproduction at the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Government Hospital for Women and Children in Egmore, Chennai.
Opened in 2024, the centre is the state’s first government facility of its kind. It was launched to provide accessible IVF treatment to couples from lower-income families who may otherwise have to depend on private hospitals that charge several lakhs for the procedure.
The couple was married for five years but did not have children. Doctors at the facility first transferred the embryo to the woman’s uterus in the first week of December, 2025, and she delivered twin babies — a boy and a girl — in the 31st week through caesarean section on June 23.
Dr MS Manicka Devi, professor and nodal officer IVF, Centre for Assisted Reproduction, said the mother delivered preterm babies. The doctors had to deliver them in a C-section as the mother had premature rupture of membrane.
‘BPL couples selected by panel for IVF procedure’
While one baby weighed 1.3 kg, the other weighed 1.28 kg, and they are being monitored in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the hospital, she said.
Dr K Lavanya, professor and nodal officer IVF, said there are still around 500 women waiting for the procedure. Also, there are nine ongoing pregnancies through IVF, and the success rate is around 32% to 40%. Couples who fall below the poverty line (BPL) are selected through a committee for the procedure, she said.
Women who could not conceive naturally and for whom other assisted reproductive technology (ART) methods have failed are selected for IVF. Couples with children are not eligible for the procedure at the government facility, the doctor said.
Expressing her delight, the mother told TNIE that she tried an intrauterine insemination (IUI) procedure unsuccessfully four times earlier at a private hospital. The doctor there told the couple that IVF is the only possibility next and said it would cost Rs 3 to Rs 5 lakh.
“My husband doesn’t have a standard job, and we couldn’t afford the procedure at the private hospital. That is when I saw the news that the GH is going to offer IVF procedure, and we approached the doctors. I had no hope of successful IVF.
I didn’t expect this much support from a GH,” she said. While expressing gratitude to the doctors, the mother added, “But it would have been better if the children had not landed in the NICU. The baby boy is doing better now and is out of respiratory support, but the baby girl is still on respiratory support.”
It may be recalled that in 2022, then health minister Ma Subramanian announced during the demands for grants for the health department that an infertility clinic will be established at the Egmore hospital, and Government Rajaji Madurai MCH at a total cost of Rs 5 crore.
