INFERTILITY PROCEDURE ANSWERS CHILDLESS COUPLE’S YEAR’S OF PRAYER

She was in the making in the heavens for almost 17 years and, after much prayer, devotion and the belief that if God was willing she would come into their lives, baby Sanjana has finally arrived to fill this couples’ void.

Nicknamed Radha Rani because she was born at Westville Hospital on August 13 – the start of Gita Week and Krishna Janmastami – little Sanjana (meaning gentle) has brought light into her parent’s lives. Krishna devotees Kamal Maharaj, 42, a subject adviser for the Department of Education and editor of the Hindu newspaper Vishwa Shakti, and Vanita, 37, head of department at Trenance Park Primary School have been married for 16-and-a-half years. The couple of Wadd Street, Tongaat, had been trying to conceive for the past eight years.

The Maharajs visited spiritualists and temples in South Africa and India, before trying PESE (percutaneous extraction of sperm from the epididymis), TESE (testicular extraction of sperm) and ICSI (intra cytoplasmic sperm injection) procedure, performed at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town, which was unsuccessful.

Explaining the procedure – which has a 35 to 50% success rate – gynaecologist and infertility specialist and head of the C.A.R.E Clinic at Westville Hospital, Dr Anil Ramdeo, said it meant extracting sperm from the testes and freezing it for about two years before injecting the sperm into the extracted eggs.

“We extracted eight eggs from Mrs Maharaj and the sperm was frozen for two years,” said Ramdeo.

“When it came to the ICSI procedure, we thawed the sperm – the tail is stunned and rendered inactive – and injected each egg with one sperm. We carried Mrs Maharaj’s embryos to an advanced stage of development before inserting them into her uterus.”

Holding her bundle of joy, proud mother Vanita said her daughter’s birth had been preceded by a long period of prayer and devotion. She had decided a year ago to diligently repeat the mantra for offspring: “Devaki suta govinda vaasudeva jagatpate; Dehi me tanayam Krishna tvaamaham sharaham gatah (O, Vasudeva, Lord of this universe, O son of Devaki, I take refuge in thee)”.

Said the beaming dad: “Sanjana is a baby born out of a long period of devotion and prayer and she is a luxm (divine light) to us. Because we come from a spiritual background the trauma was not as difficult. It’s a blessing to have a child. We’ve always been surrounded by other children – relative’s children and having children to stay in our home – so we did not feel we had missed out, but there was that void of not having our own.”

He said they were fortunate that they had family and close friends who were constantly supportive and always prayed for them.

The Maharajs desire for a child took them to Tygerberg Hospital in 1997 after they read of the ICSI procedure. However, after two years of treatment at a cost of R10,000 for each trip and R5,000 for ICSI, the procedure was unsuccessful. At that point, the couple decided to leave matters in the hands of God.

At the same time, they were looking to adopt a baby from India and local welfare organisations and were preparing their applications.

“My wife decided that if Krishna felt that it was good that we have a baby, it was fine and if he did not, then that was also fine and it was all in our karma and we accepted that,” said Mr Maharaj.

Then, in 2000, their general practitioner, Dr Vish Ramdial, told them of Dr Ramdeo.

The following year they contacted Ramdeo. One procedure was done in 2001, but failed. A second was done in November last year, and proved to be successful. On December 6, they received the happy news that they were expecting their first baby. But their joy was short-lived – Kamal’s dad, Pundit Hari Krishna Maharaj, then 76, passed away from ill health, six days later.

The couple took it in their stride and began to prepare themselves mentally and physically, regulating their diet, taking up yoga and a massage programme, together with Ramdeo’s treatment.

The procedure cost them R20,000 which is not covered by medical aid.

“After 15 days of treatment we were told of the news and I just cried. My husband was shocked. For me it’s a dream and we are enjoying every minute of it, including staying up at night when Sanjana wakes up. There were days when I got depressed when insensitive people asked when I was having a baby, but all that has changed now.”

She said that before going for the procedure she had dreamt of baby Krishna carrying balloons and telling her he loved her.

“With Sanjana, it’s now a whole new ball game and she completes me. Without Dr Ramdeo and his team’s help, we would never have got through it – he is like an angel sent from God to help us,” said Vanita Maharaj.