Infertility awareness is on the rise in India — but misconceptions remain common. That’s why Jaideep Malhotra, MD, Director of Carrot partner Rainbow IVF, focuses on patient education alongside her work as an OB/GYN. She’s been committed to patient education throughout her career, including making films, writing books, and developing a patient education mobile app. We talked about her career, what Rainbow IVF specializes in, and how couples and individuals in India can find the right fertility clinic for them.
About Jaideep Malhotra, MD
- Qualifications: Fellow in Indian College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (FICOG), Fellow of the International College of Surgeons (FICS), Indian Federation of Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (IFUMB), Fellowship in Minimal Access Surgery (FMAS), Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (FRCOG), Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Ireland (FRCPI)
Jaideep Malhotra, MD, Director of Rainbow IVF, is a dedicated obstetrician, infertility specialist, and pioneer of women’s health in India. In addition to her many clinical and academic contributions to the field of fertility care, she has been a fierce advocate for women’s health issues through educational programs, filmmaking, non-profit work, and the establishment of assisted reproductive technology (ART) centers in India, as well as in Nepal and Bangladesh. Dr. Malhotra was the first woman President of the Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction (ASPIRE), the 2018 President of the Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI), President of the Indian Society of Assisted Reproduction (ISAR), and currently holds leadership positions in several other groups. For her significant contributions to society, Dr. Malhotra has received awards from the Prime Minister of India and the Prime Minister of Nepal.
About Rainbow IVF
Based in Agra, India, Rainbow IVF was founded in 1997 by husband and wife Narendra Malhotra, MD, and Dr. Malhotra. Their son, Keshav Malhotra, MD, has an internationally-recognized ESHRE certification in embryology and serves as the Lab Director of Rainbow IVF. The Malhotra family has dedicated their lives to treating patients with infertility and educating through publishing over one hundred books and training future physicians.
Tell us a little about Rainbow IVF and what you specialize in.
At Rainbow IVF, we strive to provide a comprehensive approach to infertility for our patients, blending holistic approaches with modern technologies to improve patient outcomes. Specifically, our clinic specializes in handling repeat embryo implantation failures. We use technology to our advantage and offer evidence-based practices to help our patients achieve their dream of having a child. We have also frequently worked with patients wanting to preserve their fertility, and our clinic offers long-term storage options. We’re also dedicated to teaching young infertility specialists, training over 200 professionals each year.
What interested you in a career in fertility?
My family opened our fertility practice in 1996 with a vision to practice respectful care and improve access to fertility services in smaller towns and cities. Ours was the first clinic in the northern India state of Uttar Pradesh that offered fertility services and resulted in the first IVF, ICSI, testicular sperm aspiration (TESA), and frozen embryo transfer (FET) babies. We’ve also worked to improve access to fertility care throughout the region and have established 14 successful IVF centers and three IVF centers in medical colleges.
What do you recommend individuals and couples look for in a fertility clinic?
We believe that patients should research thoroughly before choosing a fertility clinic. With access to technology and the plethora of IVF centers in India, this choice has become very confusing. A patient should look for the accreditation of the center, the credentials of the infertility specialists and embryologist, whether the clinic has in-house embryologists, the quality of the embryology lab, their average results, their expertise in managing similar cases, and their ethics and transparency in their decisions and services. (If you are a Carrot member, Carrot’s Care Navigation team can provide recommendations for high-quality fertility clinics near you.)
What trends in fertility care in India have you noticed over the years?
India is heading towards a major upswing in infertility rates. This could be due to increased awareness, especially in rural cities, but it could also be due to the various factors affecting our population's fertility and fertility choices. Male-factor infertility is definitely on the rise — our clinic is recording nearly 50% of our cases with male-factor infertility, in line with a report from the World Health Organization (WHO). Awareness is also on the rise for preimplantation genetic testing and elective fertility preservation.
Are there any common misconceptions you hear from patients starting their fertility journey?
There are just so many misconceptions, especially in a country like ours, where the topic isn’t discussed as openly as it should be. Common misconceptions range from infertility being only a female issue to the expectation that all solutions to resolve the disease will be very expensive. There are, in fact, many different interventions and solutions that doctors can try to resolve infertility, many of which are non-invasive. We evaluate each patient’s needs and have successfully treated infertility through other, often less expensive and invasive, methods. At our clinic, only around 15% of our patients who seek treatment for infertility ultimately require IVF. Lastly, fertility journeys do not always constitute infertility; we offer a range of fertility care services, including our wellness program and fertility preservation.
If you’re a Carrot member, log into your account to search for fertility and family-forming services near you, including Rainbow IVF. Carrot partners offer exclusive benefits like priority booking and lower negotiated rates.
If you’re a fertility care or family-forming service provider interested in supporting Carrot members or want to learn more about working with Carrot, please contact us at providers@get-carrot.com.
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