People

Leading IVF specialist Dr Anjali Malpani’s book Tries, Sighs and Lullabies–The Untold Stories of Infertility chronicles real-life, emotional stories of hope and endurance. The story of a homosexual couple from Bhopal trying to have a family of their own against overwhelming odds; that of an infertile man who was one of the unfortunate victims of the mass sterilisation drive during the time of Emergency in 1976; that of a woman who was born without a womb; and another one who underwent 17 unsuccessful cycles of IVF only to triumph at the eighteenth attempt! Published by Hay House Publishing, the book was recently launched on the occasion of World IVF Day.

Through her soulful and compassionate writing, Dr Malpani not only brings out the traumas and triumphs of her patients but tries to dispel the myths and misconceptions that surround infertility. “According to WHO’s statistics in April 2023, 17.5 per cent of the world’s population—or one in six couples—is infertile.

In India, about 27.5 million couples are infertile,” she begins on a retrospective note. Her idea with the book was to let infertile couples know that they are not alone in their battle. Through these stories, she aims to provide them solace and support and a beacon of hope and inspiration. “Infertility is not just a medical problem. It is very much an emotional, psychological and social one. I want people to know about the emotional turmoil and the unspoken grief and suffering that many infertile couples go through in their journey,” she elaborates.

The early days

Born and raised in Mumbai, Dr Anjali is the daughter of Marwari businessman Vishwanath Malpani and a homemaker mother. She spent her childhood years at Prabhukunj in Peddar Road, the same building in which late singer Lata Mangeshkar resided. Her mother was close friends with the singer. As a brilliant student, she always ranked first in studies and was the school secretary. At 14, she gave her first interview to a newspaper for having ranked first in the board examinations. Being an all-rounder, she participated in sports, elocution debates, dance, dramatics and gymnastics with equal fervour and also enjoyed with family. “Every Friday, we would go to watch a movie at Lotus Cinema, and every weekend, we would go for dinner to Gaylord Restaurant,” she reminisces.

She pursued medicine and started her journey at King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital in Mumbai, where she also met her future husband Dr Aniruddha Malpani in the first year of college.

Eventually, she got married into the educated and progressive Marwari family. Interestingly, her motherin- law Dr Chandrakala Malpani, who hails from Sanganer, was also a doctor— something not very common in the community back then.

Doctor in the making

At KEM Hospital, Dr Malpani encountered numerous patients who had no clue about infertility—which was still a taboo subject. “I heard their heart-wrenching stories of desperation, desolation and depression. The women patients who would come for consultation would not even speak that they wanted to have a baby!” she shares. With no treatment in India back then, Dr Malpani decided to specialise in the field of fertility. “Back then, and surprisingly, even today, infertility is not taught in a public hospital in India—even though it is quite common now!” she frets.

With a firm resolve, she began applying for scholarships all over the world. In 1989, she managed to secure a prestigious travelling fellowship that allowed her to travel to any country she wished to go for studies. She took admission in King’s College in London, and went away for a year, leaving behind her oneyear old daughter in India in the care of her husband and in-laws. “It was one of the biggest decisions of my life,” she ponders. Fortunately, her family supported her completely.

The year turned out to be one with opportunities and exposure, and presented many new ideas and techniques at fertility clinics across the UK. While there, she also got to visit Europe’s biggest sperm bank at Peterborough.

Spreading wings

Back in India, Dr Malpani joined hands with her fertility expert husband and launched India’s first private fertility clinic. In 1990, they made front page news by starting the country’s first sperm bank. The rest, as they say, is history. “Since then, the phones have been ringing, and haven’t stopped yet!” she laughs. Apart from being pioneers of male infertility in India, the Malpanis have many other feathers in their caps with various revolutionary and pathbreaking scientific fertility treatments—India’s first GIFT (gamete intrafallopian transfer) pregnancy (1991), first surrogacy pregnancy (1993) and first pregnancy through TESE-ICSI (1996).

In 1997, they started India’s first support group for infertile couples called ‘Infertility Friends’. As part of the group, Dr Malpani would physically meet almost 20-100 people in a month and offer them emotional and moral support.

The same year, they launched India’s first medical website and the country’s first website for infertile couples—as almost 60 per cent of her patients were based abroad. “Sometimes, people are not able to talk to their families or even a doctor about these issues,” adds the Professor Emeritus at KEM Hospital.

Since then, the doctor couple has been running the country’s first and largest free resource centre in Mumbai—the Health Education Library for People, consisting of 10,000 books on various medical subjects. Later, they launched India’s first app for infertile couples. “The word ‘sperm’ was considered taboo. We started openly talking about infertility issues, since people needed to know that it is not a stigma or anything to be shameful about. It is like any other medical disorder that is treatable,” maintains the pioneer of fertility treatment in India.