The first test tube baby of India, Kanupriya Agarwal aka Durga, is now 40 and is ecstatic as she has come to Maharashtra for the first time. She was born on October 3, 1978 and was in the city as the chief guest of a seminar organised by Dr Khurds infertility and test tube baby centre. “IVF is a vast field and we never had India’s first test tube baby officially introduced in Maharashtra, so it was done to commemorate her 40th birthday,” said Dr Sanjeev Khurd of Dr Khurds infertility and test tube baby centre.
Kanupriya spoke to Hindustan Times and said, “I was never called for such a programme in Maharashtra. I am celebrating my birthday here for the first time. It is an honour.”
When asked about how she was exposed to the fact that she was an IVF baby (in vitro fertilisation), she said, “I always grew up with the fact that I was ‘it’. I knew my parents are making rounds to the doctors with me to know more about my health, but I did grow up normally and had a normal childhood.”
Speaking about the acceptance of her being ‘different’, she said, “My grandparents were extremely progressive and they were the first ones to accept me, hence, everybody had to. People had varied perspective about me, but when they saw me growing normally - attending college and completing studies, it all fell in place.”
Now, Kanupriya is a mother to a five-year-old daughter and stressed that nothing is different in her daughter’s childhood than hers.
{{/usCountry}}Now, Kanupriya is a mother to a five-year-old daughter and stressed that nothing is different in her daughter’s childhood than hers.
{{/usCountry}}She said, “I feel doctors really researched their way and helped my parents who really wanted a child then. It was an era where Dr S Mukherjee, who became the first physician to help my parents with me, was never recognised truly for his efforts. Recognition came late, but it did. However, my mother could never conceive again because her fallopian tubes were blocked. I am their only child and I am honoured that the doctors did their best to help them have me.” She added that her parents faced a lot of brunt because of her ‘status’ then and faced many questions, but now everything has become easier. I am showered with a lot of love and respect,” she said.
The seminar that was organised at IMA hall on Saturday, also saw other guests, including Dr Padma Iyer, IMA president of Pune branch and Dr Ranjit Joshi, IVF expert from Nashik, among others.