AI acts as a decision-support tool in modern fertility treatments, says Dr. Mugdha Parasnis

A machine is now helping decide which embryo becomes a baby.

No, it's not science fiction.

It's happening in 164 fertility centres across Pune, right now.

Today is World IVF Day.

And the story this year isn't about a miracle birth.

It's about who's helping make that birth possible.

🧬 The old way was... a guess

For decades, embryologists picked the "best" embryo by eye.

Under a microscope.

Based on experience. Instinct. Judgment.

Human judgment is brilliant.

It's also inconsistent.

Enter AI.

They don't replace doctors.

They watch what doctors can't.

📸 Time-lapse imaging tracks embryos dividing, cell by cell, hour by hour
🏆 Ranking systems score which embryo is most likely to implant
🧫 Sperm-selection software removes guesswork from a step nobody used to question
🧬 Newer tools even generate a polygenic risk score — a probability estimate for future conditions

Dr Mugdha Parasnis of KEM Hospital put it simply: AI doesn't replace the clinician. It reduces subjectivity.

For years, IVF was framed as her journey.

That's flipping.

Male-factor infertility now drives 40-50% of all cases.

Doctors say men used to show up after their partner had already run every test.

Now?

They're often first in line.

India's fertility rate has quietly slipped to 1.9 — below the replacement level of 2.1.

Blame it on:

More couples are showing up at clinics. Fewer are conceiving without help.

A risk score is not a diagnosis.

AI narrows the odds. It doesn't remove them.

No algorithm guarantees a baby.

But it's quietly rewriting how many couples get their chance.

That's all for now!