Affiliation:
1. Formerly Associated Patent Facilitation Centre, Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council, New Delhi, India,
2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, In Vitro Fertilization Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India,
Abstract
The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, a novel coronavirus in December 2019 was first identified in Wuhan, the capital city of China, Hubei Province that rapidly spread as worldwide pandemic, a global health emergency condition. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak was declared as Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30, 2020, by the World Health Organization and later a world pandemic on March 11, 2020. In India, the first COVID-19 case was reported on January 30, 2020, and with increasing number of cases later nationwide lockdown was implemented on March 24, 2020. The COVID-19 restrictions were lifted and gradually country’s economy and health-care services started to resume. According to the international and national guidelines on COVID-19, all the non-essential medical services were suspended including majority of fertility services across the globe. The strategy was followed to minimize the virus transmission with physical distancing and less human interaction. The unplanned shutdown of fertility services to support the overwhelmed health-care services possessed a serious psychological impact and mental distress on the patients undergoing fertility treatments. The aim of this review is to briefly summarize the current knowledge regarding the psychological impact of abrupt suspension of in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures, closure of IVF clinics and the impact it had on the couples who had to postpone their treatments due to the restrictions. The surveys reviewed are majorly based on observational, cross-sectional community-based study with certain limitations. The study suggested future implication of introducing more structured planning to combat the psychological distress caused during fertility treatments. In future, the psychological consequences of increased anxiety and mental distress need to be addressed during the treatment at fertility clinics. Further, the article also provides brief insights on the legal aspects of assisted reproductive technology rights and how it can help in protecting reproductive rights of child and the women.