Rajesh and Naina Parmar, married for over four years, happened to walk into the department last December completely by chance. Based in Surat, where he works in a semi-government organisation, Parmar had sought medical help for his wife's thyroid problem when they were told about Jaslok and Dr Firuza Parikh, who heads the department. ``We haven't given him a name but we are calling him Tiku. It's impossible to explain our happiness,'' says Parmar.

For the department, it's a milestone of sorts that the Laser Assisted Hatching coupled with Blastocyst Transfer technique has shown encouragingresults giving hope to infertile couples, especially in the older age groups. ``In the Blastocyst Transfer, we allow the embryo to develop in laboratory culture conditions till there is enough differentiation in cells so we can choose the best one for implantation in the uterus. Then, with LAH, we use the laser beam to melt a tiny part of the embryo shell to help it attach itself to the uterine wall. This is important because many assisted pregnancies fail when the embryo doesn't or can't attach to the wall,'' explains Dr Parikh.

The scientific results of this technique have been accepted for publication in the Indian Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, now that the success rate of pregnancies with the LAH procedure is as high as 49.2 per cent with 86 of the 175 women who underwent the procedure conceiving, added Dr Parikh. The Jaslok team comprises Dr.Suparna Nadkarni, Nandu NAik and Shonali Uttamchandani.