Subhash Mukhopadhyay

Subhash Mukhopadhyay was an Indian physician and scientist who achieved a remarkable feat in the field of reproductive medicine. He was the first person in India and the second in the world to successfully create a test tube baby using in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) technique. He performed this procedure with the help of his colleagues Sunit Mukherji and Saroj Kanti Bhattacharya, using basic equipment and a refrigerator in his own apartment. The baby girl, named Durga (alias Kanupriya Agarwal), was born on 3 October 1978, just 67 days after the first IVF baby in the United Kingdom. However, instead of receiving recognition and support for his groundbreaking work, Mukhopadhyay faced social ostracisation, bureaucratic negligence, reprimand and insult from the West Bengal state government and the Indian medical establishment. He was not allowed to share his achievements with the international scientific community or attend any conferences. He was also subjected to a humiliating inquiry by a committee of experts who had no knowledge of modern reproductive technology and who dismissed his claims as bogus. Dejected and depressed by the lack of appreciation and acknowledgement, Mukhopadhyay committed suicide on 19 June 1981 by overdosing on sleeping pills. His death was largely ignored by the media and the public at that time. It was only after his colleague T.C. Anand Kumar, who was credited as the mastermind behind India's official first test tube baby in 1986, reviewed Mukhopadhyay's personal notes and confirmed his pioneering work that he started to receive some belated recognition and respect. His life and death have been the subject of several newspaper articles, books, documentaries and films. He is widely regarded as one of the unsung heroes of Indian science and medicine who deserved better treatment and appreciation for his contributions to the field of reproductive biology.