Grieving mother uses dead son's sperm to give birth to grandchildren

A mother, who lost her young son two years ago due to cancer, managed to bring back some part of him after having grandchildren via in-vitro fertilisation.

Rajashree Patil from the western Indian city of Pune is now the proud grandmother of two twin baby boys who were born on 12 February, the Financial Express reported.

Talking about the procedure, Patil said that when his 27-year-old son was diagnosed with brain tumour in 2013, his doctor suggested him to preserve his semen fearing that chemotherapy would affect them. She said her son was pursuing engineering in Germany when he was diagnosed with a stage IV cancer in the brain.

However, the treatment was unsuccessful and he died in September 2016.

But Patil did not let the tragedy break her and she decided to bring part of him back. "Even when he was diagnosed with brain tumour and later lost his vision after the chemotherapy, he did not lose spirit. He fought valiantly till the last breath. He always tried to regale us with his stories and humour.

That's why, when we lost him, I wanted to have grandchildren using the cryopreserved semen," the mother said.

She said after completing all the formalities with the sperm bank in Germany, she contacted a local hospital in the city for the IVF procedure. Patil said that doctors were soon able to find an egg donor for the procedure.

"After validating the woman's fitness, we transferred two embryos in her womb in May last year. Both embryos were implanted and the conception was confirmed in June. After regular check-ups, the woman delivered full-term healthy twins on Monday," Supriya Puranik, infertility expert at Sahyadri Hospitals, who helped with the procedure, was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

The doctor added that the IVF is not a very unique procedure, but this particular case was special because a grief-stricken mother wanted her son back.

"In hospitals, we often see a lot of emotional moments and happiness whenever a woman delivers a baby and we become a part of their joy. But in this case, it was about a grief-stricken mother whose son was away for studies when he faced health issues and later died.

"We appreciate the kind of spirit she has shown in this entire process and we congratulate her for having her son back in the form of these healthy twin babies," Puranik said.