MEERUT, February 9: In a rare case, doctors helped a woman, who was termed ‘genetically male’ with a rare chance of conceiving, deliver two healthy babies. The babies, a boy and a girl, whose birth doctors said was nothing short of a medical miracle, were born on Saturday after Maya Sharma (name changed) went through a series of treatment procedures spread over three years to realize her dream of becoming a mother. “This is something similar to a male delivering twins”, said Dr Sunil Jindal, the infertility specialist who administered the treatment.
Maya’s condition is medically referred to as XY gonadal dysgenesis, in which the person has external female characteristics but non-functional gonads or ovaries, the ovum-producing reproductive organs, which are necessary for natural reproduction. She never menstruated, or experienced puberty, leading doctors who conducted a karotyping (chromosomal study) on her to diagnose her as having XY (male pattern) chromosomes. The only saving grace, though, was that she had an infantile uterus, which could be developed by hormonal and endocrinal treatment.
Doctors decided to give this a shot to fulfill her aspiration of having children. “The challenge before us was to develop the uterus to a level that it could carry a pregnancy,” recalled Dr Jindal.
