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Manipal: Manipal Assisted Reproduction Centre (MARC) celebrated 30th year of services for Infertile couples and the birth of 5000 babies at a function on February 17, 2019 at Dr TMA Pai Conference Hall, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal at 4.00 p.m.

Dr PLNG Rao, Pro Vice Chancellor, Quality Assurance, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal who was the Guest of honour expressed his good feelings for MARC and the work done over many years for the benefit of the society and mankind.  He also emphasized the success in due to the hard work of the team headed by Dr Pratap Kumar.

Dr Pragna Rao, Dean of Kasturba Medical College, Manipal inaugurated the social media of MARC along with E-consultation portal for MARC where consultation can be done through internet and emails.

Dr Pratap Kumar, Professor and Head of MARC gave on overview of how MARC was started in the year 1990 and has reached to this level of high success in the field of Infertility.  Dr Pratap said that MARC began with simple procedures and later started the test tube baby (IVF) procedure in 1998. The IVF procedure involves fertilization of the egg from the wife and the sperm of the husband outside the body and then putting the embryo in the womb of the woman to grow.  The first IVF baby was born on February 18, 1999.

He also said that MARC offers a wide range of treatment programs for sub-fertile couples seeking assisted conception. It is backed by the experience of expert doctors and scientists who have taken specialized training abroad and have been working with subfertility problems. The pioneering technological improvements make MARC one of the most advanced centers for the treatment of infertility in India.  About 300 children had come for the occasion.

The centre has a fully equipped andrology laboratory for male sub fertility evaluation and semen banking for short term and long term storage. Embryology laboratory has all modern facilities in par with International students.  

Dr Muralidhar V Pai, Professor & Head, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal addressed the gathering.

Dr Satish Adiga, Professor & Chief Embryologist of MARC who has been trained abroad on several IVF techniques, gave the vote of thanks.

A good magic show by Shankar Junior was arranged for the children which was highly appreciated by children and parents who came for “MARC DAY”. A good number of children born through MARC procedure were there for the celebration. The oldest IVF child is now 20 years.