{"product_id":"fp-05","title":"1978: Durga is born in Calcutta","description":"\u003cstyle\u003e@import url('https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css2?family=Cormorant+Garamond:ital,wght@0,300;0,400;0,500;0,600;1,400;1,500\u0026family=Source+Sans+3:ital,wght@0,400;0,500;0,600;1,400\u0026display=swap');\n#ivfm-exhibit{--ink:#1b2447;--slate:#5f667f;--paper:#efeee9;--hair:#d6d4cb;--rose:#c0355f;--serif:'Cormorant Garamond',Georgia,serif;--sans:'Source Sans 3',Arial,sans-serif;color:var(--ink);font-family:var(--sans);font-size:18px;line-height:1.65;max-width:760px;margin:0 auto;}\n#ivfm-exhibit .kick{font-size:14px;letter-spacing:.16em;text-transform:uppercase;color:var(--rose);margin:0 0 10px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit .stand{font-family:var(--serif);font-size:clamp(23px,2.6vw,28px);line-height:1.35;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit figure{margin:0 0 28px;padding:10px;background:#fff;border:1px solid var(--hair);}\n#ivfm-exhibit figure img{display:block;width:100%;height:auto;}\n#ivfm-exhibit figcaption{font-size:15px;line-height:1.5;margin-top:10px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit .cr{display:block;font-size:13.5px;color:var(--slate);margin-top:4px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit h2{font-family:var(--serif);font-weight:500;font-size:30px;margin:30px 0 10px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit p{margin:0 0 18px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit blockquote{margin:28px 0;padding:6px 0 6px 22px;border-left:3px solid var(--rose);font-family:var(--serif);font-size:24px;line-height:1.4;font-style:italic;}\n#ivfm-exhibit blockquote cite{display:block;font-family:var(--sans);font-style:normal;font-size:14.5px;color:var(--slate);margin-top:10px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit .card{background:var(--paper);border:1px solid var(--hair);padding:20px 22px;margin:30px 0;}\n#ivfm-exhibit .card h3{font-size:14px;letter-spacing:.14em;text-transform:uppercase;color:var(--slate);margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:600;}\n#ivfm-exhibit .card .pt{font-family:var(--serif);font-size:22px;line-height:1.35;margin:0 0 8px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit .card p{font-size:16px;margin:0 0 6px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit details{font-size:15px;color:var(--slate);border-top:1px solid var(--hair);padding-top:12px;margin-top:24px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit summary{cursor:pointer;font-weight:600;color:var(--ink);}\n#ivfm-exhibit .nav{display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:10px;margin:28px 0 8px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit .nav a{display:inline-block;padding:10px 16px;border:1px solid var(--ink);color:var(--ink);text-decoration:none;font-size:15px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit a{color:var(--ink);}\n.breadcrumb--product-single,.product-single__media,.product-single__primary-blocks,.product-single__box__block--tab{display:none!important}\n.product-single__content{display:block!important;grid-template-columns:none!important}\n.product-single__secondary-blocks{width:100%!important;max-width:none!important;margin:0!important;padding:0!important;opacity:1!important;transform:none!important}\n.product-single__box__block--description{opacity:1!important;transform:none!important;width:100%!important}\n#ivfm-exhibit h1{font-family:var(--serif);font-weight:500;font-size:clamp(38px,5vw,56px);line-height:1.08;margin:0 0 16px;color:var(--ink)}\n[id^=\"shopify-section-template--\"]:not([id$=\"__main\"]){display:none!important}\n\u003c\/style\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"ivfm-exhibit\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"kick\"\u003eThe Founding Papers · FP·05 · 1978\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch1\u003e1978: Durga is born in Calcutta\u003c\/h1\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"stand\"\u003eSeventy days after Louise Brown, a girl was born in Calcutta. Her doctor, Subhas Mukherjee, reported that she had begun as an embryo frozen and thawed in his laboratory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/cdn\/shop\/files\/subhas-mukherjee-portrait.jpg?width=1000\" alt=\"Subhas Mukherjee in academic dress, holding a rolled diploma.\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003cfigcaption\u003eSubhas Mukherjee.\u003cspan class=\"cr\"\u003ePhotographer and rights holder to be confirmed.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/figcaption\u003e\u003c\/figure\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eThe story\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWorking with a cryobiologist, Sunit Mukherjee, and a gynaecologist, Saroj Kanti Bhattacharya, Subhas Mukherjee fertilised eggs in his laboratory, froze the embryos and later thawed one and returned it to the mother. On 3 October 1978 a healthy girl was born. She was named Durga, and is now known as Kanupriya Agarwal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team described their work in this brief note, and in a signed report to the West Bengal government on 19 October 1978. An official committee rejected it. Mukherjee was never able to present his work abroad, and he died in 1981.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecognition came later. In 1997 T. C. Anand Kumar studied his papers and made the case for him, and in 2002 the Indian Council of Medical Research recognised his work. Because the original records are so brief, the museum marks his claim as contested, while celebrating what he achieved. His story is told on \u003ca href=\"\/pages\/subhas-mukherjee\"\u003ehis own page\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e“One such frozen embryo was subsequently thawed slowly and when transferred into the uterus of the woman apparently resulted in the production of a clinically normal female baby after normal period of gestation.”\u003ccite\u003eThe 1978 note, as quoted by T. C. Anand Kumar in 1997\u003c\/cite\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"card\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe paper\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"pt\"\u003eThe Feasibility of Long-Term Cryogenic Freezing of Viable Human Embryos: A Brief Pilot Study Report\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSubhas Mukherjee, Sunit Mukherjee, S. K. Bhattacharya\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIndian Journal of Cryogenics\u003c\/em\u003e 1978;3:80, as cited by Anand Kumar (FP·13). Some later sources date it to 1979. Not indexed in PubMed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"nav\"\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/products\/fp-04\"\u003e← 1978: Louise Brown is born\u003c\/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/products\/fp-06\"\u003e1980: How it was done →\u003c\/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/pages\/founding-papers\"\u003eAll the Founding Papers\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdetails\u003e\u003csummary\u003eHow we know\u003c\/summary\u003e\u003cp\u003eKnown through Anand Kumar's 1997 paper and the ICMR-NIRRCH booklet (Mukherjee and Mehta, 2020), read 6 October 2026. The 1978 note and the 19 October report themselves have not been seen by the museum.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/details\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"IVF Museum","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47576840831148,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/ivfmuseum.org\/products\/fp-05","provider":"IVF Museum","version":"1.0","type":"link"}