26-year-old woman with premature ovarian insufficiency defies odds, delivers healthy baby girl in Karnataka

MANGALURU: A 26-year-old woman diagnosed with premature ovarian insufficiency conceived and delivered a healthy baby girl, recently. Premature ovarian insufficiency is a medical condition where the functioning of the ovaries declines before the age of 40 years. The ovaries either stop releasing eggs regularly or do not produce adequate reproductive hormones. A fertility specialist at Nova IVF Fertility, Mangaluru, stated that 30–35% of infertility cases in her practice involve premature ovarian insufficiency, seen even among women in their late 20s.The couple, aged 26 years and 34 years, married for three years, had been trying to conceive for two years and were struggling with fertility issues.

The initial evaluations indicated premature ovarian insufficiency—a condition affecting 1 in 1,000 women under 30 years of age, where the ovaries exhaust the eggs before 40 years. Two years ago, she was diagnosed with low Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) levels. AMH is a fertility health marker in women, which indicates the number of eggs. Low egg reserve in the 20s could be a sign of premature ovarian insufficiency, and she was advised that her chances of conceiving with her own eggs were slim.

They were counselled to opt for donor eggs due to poor ovarian reserve.They visited Nova IVF Fertility, Mangaluru, and on the day of evaluation, the team conducted a thorough scan. The medical team monitored her closely with daily ultrasounds and blood tests and retrieved a single healthy egg before ovulation. The mature egg was successfully retrieved and fertilised via ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection is a type of fertility treatment where a healthy sperm is picked and fertilised in the lab with a healthy egg to form an embryo), and the result was a healthy embryo.

This was further transferred into her uterus in the same cycle. The pregnancy test came back positive on the first attempt, and later she delivered a healthy baby girl at full term. The case also illustrates the importance of single-embryo transfer (SET), which can maximise the chances of a healthy pregnancy while avoiding complications often associated with multiple pregnancies,Dr Shaweez Faizi, a fertility specialist at Nova IVF Fertility, Mangaluru, said, "Premature ovarian insufficiency is one of the most challenging diagnoses we face, and it's very emotionally shocking for women to accept at such a young age.

Natasha’s case shows that even a single egg of good quality can lead to a successful pregnancy. Timely scans and personalised treatment planning can make all the difference. We also see many women with secondary infertility struggling to conceive a second child because their ovarian reserve has already diminished," she said.The patient also reported irregular menstrual cycles over the previous six months, a symptom often mistaken for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) in young women. However, further evaluation revealed that her irregular cycles were due to poor ovarian reserve.