First test tube baby born in govt hospital

A 'test tube baby' was born at a government hospital in the country for the very first time, heralding a new era of accessibility to such services for low-income individuals.

"The baby girl was born at Dhaka Medical College Hospital around a week ago, and she is in good health," said Dr. Fatema Rahman, a professor of the Gynae and Obs Department at DMC, in an interview with The Business Standard on Thursday.

Details regarding the birth of the test tube baby will be revealed during a ceremony, she added.

According to gynecologists, the test tube procedure serves as a vital treatment option for infertility. In this method, the woman's egg and the husband's sperm are collected and fertilized in the lab to artificially create an embryo. The embryo is then implanted in the woman's uterus. Artificial embryos grow in the same way as normal embryos in the womb, leading to the birth of a baby after nine months.

Dr Eva Rani Nandy, an infertility specialist at Sir Salimullah Medical College and Mitford Hospital, told TBS that IVF or the test tube procedure is often the final step in infertility treatment in many cases.

She explained, "The cost of this treatment ranges from Tk3 to Tk5 lakh depending on the standard of the private center. However, there is hope that the Infertility Center at Dhaka Medical and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University now provides this treatment at a lower cost. Impoverished, childless couples can seek treatment there."

The first test tube baby in Bangladesh was born in 2001 at a private institution.