<p>A one-year-old girl, conceived by her parents through IVF specifically for the purpose of donating her bone marrow to their thalassemic son, has succeeded in saving her six-year-old brother's life.</p>.<p>Baby Kavya was born a year ago through In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) technique in Ahmedabad, under the concept known as 'saviour sibling'.</p>.<p>Her bone marrow was successfully transplanted to her brother Abhijeet Solanki in March this year and the boy is now "risk-free", doctors said on Thursday.</p>.<p>Abhijeet, the second child of Sahdev Singh Solanki and Alpa Solanki, was diagnosed with Thalassemia-major, a blood disorder, and was dependent on blood transfusion every month, they said.</p>.<p>Thalassemia-major patients require frequent blood transfusions and their life expectancy is also less.</p>.<p>His parents were advised bone marrow transplant as the last resort to treat the child, but they could not find the required HLA (human leukocyte antigen) match.</p>.<p>"Due to unavailability of matching HLA donors for the transplant, we opted for IVF with HLA matching," city-based Nova IVF Fertility's medical director Dr Manish Banker told PTI.</p>.<p>This process of HLA typing is an established method for conceiving a child, who may donate cord blood or hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation to save a sibling with a critical illness.</p>.<p>Abhijeet's father approached Banker after he found that the bone marrow of his family members, including the boy's elder sister, was not matching.</p>.<p>"Bone marrow transplant from an HLA-identical donor is the best therapeutic option for thalassemia major patients. We took the challenge and created a healthy savior sibling to save her elder brother," Banker said.</p>.<p>With the help of IVF, Abhijeet's mother delivered a healthy baby girl Kavya a year ago, who was found to be the HLA match for the sibling.</p>.<p>In March this year, after Kavya gained the required weight, a successful bone marrow transplant was done for Abhijeet at the CIMS Hospital here, Banker said.</p>.<p>"Now, Abhijeet is risk-free and doesn't require a blood transfusion," Banker said.</p>.<p>"This is the first case in India when an HLA matching baby was born through IVF specifically to save the thalassemia-major sibling," he said.</p>.<p>The siblings' father, who himself researched well about this technique, thanked Banker and other expert doctors for saving his son.</p>.<p>"It gives me immense pleasure to see both my children healthy and full of life. I am thankful and will always be indebted to Nova IVF Fertility for giving us hope to live," he said.</p>
<p>A one-year-old girl, conceived by her parents through IVF specifically for the purpose of donating her bone marrow to their thalassemic son, has succeeded in saving her six-year-old brother's life.</p>.<p>Baby Kavya was born a year ago through In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) technique in Ahmedabad, under the concept known as 'saviour sibling'.</p>.<p>Her bone marrow was successfully transplanted to her brother Abhijeet Solanki in March this year and the boy is now "risk-free", doctors said on Thursday.</p>.<p>Abhijeet, the second child of Sahdev Singh Solanki and Alpa Solanki, was diagnosed with Thalassemia-major, a blood disorder, and was dependent on blood transfusion every month, they said.</p>.<p>Thalassemia-major patients require frequent blood transfusions and their life expectancy is also less.</p>.<p>His parents were advised bone marrow transplant as the last resort to treat the child, but they could not find the required HLA (human leukocyte antigen) match.</p>.<p>"Due to unavailability of matching HLA donors for the transplant, we opted for IVF with HLA matching," city-based Nova IVF Fertility's medical director Dr Manish Banker told PTI.</p>.<p>This process of HLA typing is an established method for conceiving a child, who may donate cord blood or hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation to save a sibling with a critical illness.</p>.<p>Abhijeet's father approached Banker after he found that the bone marrow of his family members, including the boy's elder sister, was not matching.</p>.<p>"Bone marrow transplant from an HLA-identical donor is the best therapeutic option for thalassemia major patients. We took the challenge and created a healthy savior sibling to save her elder brother," Banker said.</p>.<p>With the help of IVF, Abhijeet's mother delivered a healthy baby girl Kavya a year ago, who was found to be the HLA match for the sibling.</p>.<p>In March this year, after Kavya gained the required weight, a successful bone marrow transplant was done for Abhijeet at the CIMS Hospital here, Banker said.</p>.<p>"Now, Abhijeet is risk-free and doesn't require a blood transfusion," Banker said.</p>.<p>"This is the first case in India when an HLA matching baby was born through IVF specifically to save the thalassemia-major sibling," he said.</p>.<p>The siblings' father, who himself researched well about this technique, thanked Banker and other expert doctors for saving his son.</p>.<p>"It gives me immense pleasure to see both my children healthy and full of life. I am thankful and will always be indebted to Nova IVF Fertility for giving us hope to live," he said.</p>