31-year-old becomes mother, three years after losing ovary to cancer

Sumati Yengkhom| TNN | Mar 11, 2019, | KOLKATA: She lost one ovary to cancer but she did not lose the hope to be come a mother some day. Last week Arunima Haldar (name changed to protect her identity) gave birth to a girl, three years after her right ovary was removed. Haldar is back with the baby at their Hooghly home.

The 31 year old was detected with ovarian cancer in 2015, two years after getting married. Her right ovary had to be removed. Even as doctors tend to remove both ovaries in case of ovarian cancer, considering her age, Dr AP Majumdar preserved the left ovary.

The surgery and the six rounds of chemotherapy she underwent did not kill her desire to mother a child. The Haldar couple approached gynaecologists at AMRI Hospital Mukundapur once she completed the cancer treatment.

“We started treating her with fertility medication so that she could conceive normally. She conceived twice but both ended with miscarriage,” said Dr Biswajyoti Guha, gynaecologist at AMRI Mukundapur.

If the uterus is intact and another ovary functional doctors said it is possible for a woman to get pregnant. But doctors hardly come across woman who had undergone treatment for ovarian cancer yearning to be a mother.

The two painful miscarriages did not stop Haldar’s resolute to become a mother. The gynaecology team referred her to Dr Kausiki Ray Sarkar, fertility unit in-charge at AMRI Medical Centre, for IVF procedure.

Radiotherapy and chemotherapy can cause pre-matured menopause in woman. In Haldar’s case doctors found her gamuts intact. They used her own egg and her husband’s sperm for the IVF.

“Even in cases where the woman has both ovaries intact the chances of successful pregnancy in IVF procedure could be just about 50%. We gave into this patient’s grit and went ahead with the procedure. Luckily we found good quality embryo and she conceived,” said Ray Sarkar

The fertility expert who has worked in Israel in a fertility preservation clinic that tends to young cancer patients who would want to bear a child in future vouched strongly for such facility in the city. 

Haldra’s pregnancy was equally eventful as a stubborn gestational diabetes kept doctors on their toes. 

“Despite all those challenges we are happy that we could finally deliver a healthy baby,” said Dr Guha.

Back home the couple is busy tending to their bundle of joy. “We knew it was difficult but we never lost hope as we believe in medical science, God and the doctors,” said the husband, a private firm employee.