IVF helps woman diagnosed with a rare immune disorder

Kalaivani and Karthik, a couple from Bangalore, were suffering from secondary infertility for 10 years. Secondary infertility is a condition where the couple has had babies earlier but is not able to conceive naturally again. This is when they found out about Nova IVF Fertility, Bangalore from their friends and family doctor and decided to come for a consultation.

Kalaivani had previously conceived naturally, and delivered 3 babies, with a gap of a year between each of these 3 pregnancies. While each baby looked healthy after birth, unfortunately, all of them developed a rare disorder called Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency (LAD). Owing to this condition, the couple lost two of their children at young age, while one of them survived for 14 years.

What is Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency?

Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency (LAD) is a rare primary immunodeficiency. It starts as a localised bacterial infection that is difficult to detect until it has progressed to a severe infection. It impacts both sexes equally and equal numbers of male and female are affected by this condition. Most patients with severe LAD succumb to death within a year of birth. In a few types of LAD, impacted patients develop severe mental retardation, developmental delays, neurological impairment and have a short stature. Eventually, this condition causes fatality.

Impact of couple’s emotional state on treatment

Having lost 3 children one by one despite trying everything to save them, Kalaivani was in a desperate emotional condition when she first came to Nova IVF Fertility. Her emotional state started acting as a barrier in her treatment. On one side, she has a very strong desire to have a healthy child and on another, she was suffering and trying to cope up with failure of the last few children. This condition was an emotional roller coaster ride and given her immense guilt and helplessness, she was not able to manage her emotions in this challenging condition.

Fertility treatment plan for the couple

Due to the medical condition of past pregnancies, the couple was advised either of the following treatments

Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) treatment or
An embryo donation (ED) cycle.

They decided to go for an ED cycle. They managed to arrange the required funds despite the financial difficulties and went ahead with the ED cycle treatment. However, as destiny would desire, the ED cycle failed.

Kalaivani’s mental health was at its lowest. She was struggling with the guilt of past losses and was unable to bear the pain of not being able to get pregnant. She considered herself to be a burden on her husband and one day, she tried committing suicide. Fortunately, her relatives noticed and rescued her in the nick of time.

Holistic fertility treatment along with psychiatric counselling

Nova IVF Fertility believes that a healthy & positive mind-set is a prerequisite while undergoing fertility or for that matter any treatment. The counsellor at Nova sensed Kalaivani’s distress. Helping a person who is suicidal or has already tried to commit suicide is a combination of psychiatric treatment, counselling, seeking support from family and ensuring a healthy relationship with the spouse. Our Nova IVF Fertility counsellor made sure that Kalaivani received all the above and took care of her mental wellbeing.

Counselling sessions were regularly held where rational thinking, relaxations techniques and couple counselling were done to prepare the couple for any challenges that might come their way during the treatment.

The regular counselling session and support from the family helped Kalaivani to start another cycle with Nova in March 2017. This time around, she was positive and resilient and mentally prepared for any result. With the same treatment procedures earlier followed, she was able to successfully conceive with twin pregnancies and delivered two healthy babies in December 2017.

The effect of the mind cannot be overruled and is one of the most important factors in any treatment. Along with the Assistive Reproductive Techniques that Nova IVF fertility pioneers in, we also believe in a strong and resilient mental health of the patient. Our team worked together with this patient on both the fertility as well as the mental factors and helped her with healthy twins.