Mumbai woman who never had periods delivers child

Seema (name changed), 31, had never had periods (menstrual cycles). She was told at the age of 19 that she will never be able to conceive. At the age of 23 and braving all the odds, she delivered a baby girl this month.

At the age of 15, Seema was diagnosed with having a ‘thin-band-like uterus’ with small ovaries. She was told that she can never conceive or have periods.

“My in-laws were against my marriage and even threw my husband out of the house. But my husband never spoke about children,” said Seema, who works as a beautician at Versova.

“My husband loves children. It was then that I felt the need to at least try my chances,” said Seema.

Seema approached Dr Piyush Goyal from Agarwal Nursing home in Bandra where her mother works as a maid. “We first gave her a hormone challenge test that is giving oral contraceptive pills to challenge the uterus. She got her first period,” said Dr Goyal.

Later, we did a diagnostic hysteroscopy to evaluate the uterine cavity. ”We saw that the mouth of the uterine cavity- cervix- was closed. This is cervical stenosis, the common cause of infertility. We dilated the cervix,” said Dr Goyal.

“Her uterine wall had a fibrotic band on its walls which had to be release by making cuts on the walls. When the band is released, the uterus becomes more elastic. This has to be done carefully as there are arteries on the walls of the uterus that should be left unharmed,” said Dr Goyal.

Later she was put on a course of estrogen pills to let the endometrium (uterus lining) grow on the enlarged cavity.

“Since Seema wanted to conceive immediately considering her age, she opted for fertility treatment and was pregnant in the first cycle of IVF,” said Dr Goyal. Seema delivered her baby girl prematurely on March 5.

“We are downgrading IVF treatment by evaluating the anatomy. We try not to interfere with the natural process of conception as much as possible,” explained Dr Goyal.