‘First IVF child’ admits to a ‘pinch of sadness’ at no national honour for Dr Subhash Mukherjee
On the occasion of the 40th birthday of India’s first and world’s second test tube baby ‘Durga’, he told The Indian Express that he felt disheartened that the Indian government failed to honour Dr Subhash with a Padma Vibhushan.
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On the occasion of the 40th birthday of India’s first and world’s second test tube baby ‘Durga’, he told The Indian Express that he felt disheartened that the Indian government failed to honour Dr Subhash with a Padma Vibhushan.
Among three doctors from Kolkata who figure in the Dictionary of Medical Biography published in UK — that provides authoritative biographical coverage of major medical practitioners in all times and cultures — is Dr Subhash Mukherjee, whose pathbreaking invention led to the country’s first test tube baby ‘Durga’ alias Kanupriya Agarwal.
He was never appreciated, in fact, ridiculed to the extent that the doctor committed suicide, recalled 88-year-old Prof Sunit Kumar Mukherjee who is the only surviving member of Dr Subhash Mukherjee’s team.
On the occasion of the 40th birthday of India’s first and world’s second test tube baby ‘Durga’, he told The Indian Express that he felt disheartened that the Indian government failed to honour Dr Subhash with a Padma Vibhushan.
‘Durga’, who was born on October 3, 1978, too admits feeling a “pinch of sadness” as a national honour like a Padma award still eludes Dr Subhash Mukherjee. “There will always be regret as a man whose invention has helped give the country so many IVF babies died without any recognition,” she told The Indian Express.
Both Kanupriya and Prof Sunit Kumar Mukherjee will be in Pune on Saturday at Indian Medical Association. They will be felicitated at a function organised by Dr Khurd Endoscopic Surgery, Fertility and IVF Centre on the occasion of the 40th birthday of the India’s first test tube baby.
Dr Subhash Mukherjee was the unsung hero who discovered the successful way of producing a test tube baby. It was only in 2002 that the Indian Council of Medical Research recognized his work for the first time.
Dr Sanjeev Khurd, founder member of Indian Society for Assisted Reproduction, said that they saluted Dr Subhash Mukherjee and the team that pioneered the country’s assisted reproductive technology research. “Durga was the first IVF baby born with the use of Gonadortopins and after a frozen embryo transfer. Dr Subhash Mukherjee was truly the hero of India’s IVF movement that has helped several couples with issues related to infertility fulfill their dream of parenthood,” Dr Khurd said. We wanted to honour and speak about Dr Subhash Mukherjee’s achievements, he added.
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