Sister saves sister: Indore couple’s IVF gamble delivers thalassemia cure

INDORE: Hope arrived on a Petri dish — engineered. A second child, planned with precision. A sister conceived to save a sister.

Indore couple Manish and Sneha Patel chose IVF not to grow their family, but to cure their firstborn. Their younger daughter Yuvika, now three, was conceived as a "saviour sibling" — genetically healthy and a perfect match — whose bone marrow has freed elder sister Kaira from Thalassemia Major.


"The first aim was to save Kaira and give her a healthy life through her healthy sibling. And for this, IVF technology came to the rescue," said Manish, an IT professional.

For eight years, Kaira's childhood followed a harsh clock: blood transfusions every three to four weeks. Diagnosed at three months, her body could not make enough haemoglobin. A bone marrow transplant promised a cure — if a donor could be found. None matched.

Then the pandemic year. In Nov 2020, the Patels met fertility specialist Dr Kalyani Shrimali. A two-year medical marathon began. The plan: create embryos, screen out severe thalassemia, and select one that was a full HLA match for Kaira — a legal, tightly regulated process. Three IVF cycles ran from June 2021 to Jan 2022.

"Out of 11 embryos created, only one was thalassemia-free and a 100% genetic match," Shrimali said, after pre-implantation genetic testing (PGT-M).

Yuvika was born healthy in Aug 2023. Doctors waited. Growth. Weight. Rechecks. Her HLA typing returned a perfect 10/10. In May 2025, surgeons at a hospital in Bengaluru performed the transplant. Post-op, both children are home, in isolation, doing well. Kaira no longer needs transfusions.

"The entire process was carried out after detailed counselling, ethical review, and informed consent," Shrimali said.

For the parents, the change is total. "For years, we lived in constant fear," Manish said. "Today, seeing Kaira recover and begin to live a normal childhood feels nothing short of a miracle."

The science carries a wider warning. Experts estimate 10,000 to 15,000 children are born with Thalassemia Major in India each year. Doctors urge carrier screening — including Hb electrophoresis — for couples planning pregnancy.