Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT-H) is undertaking a study on the ways in which ageing is conceptualised in In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) by researching on elderly couples who conceived through the method.
The project has received a funding of Rs 25 lakh under the Wellcome UK Small Projects Grant for 2018 and is titled 'A Preliminary Study of Ageing and Assisted Reproduction in India.'
Speaking about the project, Dr Anindita Majumdar, assistant professor, Department of Liberal Arts, IIT-Hyderabad, said, "The aim of the research is to contribute conceptually and through field data to ongoing, and future research on assisted conception, infertility and reproduction in India. This would include publications emerging from research, and the development of a larger research project that will look at the impact that societal and environmental factors have on increasing fears of declining fertility in urban India."
The research will focus on aspects of the ageing, reproductive body and how technology and society imagine childbirth and families in such a context. Research from Europe, USA and Asia will be presented at the conference, which will be hosted by IIT Hyderabad.
Dr Mazumdar said that the research embeds itself within emerging issues of the 'biological clock', and declining fertility which has long-term significance on demographic and population trends as well as on the social care and responsibility of an ageing population.
