By Dr. Ejaz Anjum
LAHORE: Serious allegations have surfaced against a Lahore- and Sargodha-based fertility specialist, Dr. Sajida Shahnawaz, over the provision of unapproved and scientifically unrecognized stem cell fertility treatments to infertile couples across Pakistan. The controversy has drawn widespread attention after Dr. Ejaz Anjum, a US-based Kashmiri physician with more than two decades of experience in IVF and stem cell research, publicly challenged Dr. Shahnawaz’s claims.
Dr. Anjum, currently serving as Head of Mother and Child International Hospital in Mirpur, accused Dr. Shahnawaz of misleading the public with claims of “stem cell therapy” that, according to him, have no scientific basis. “The claims being made about producing babies through stem cell fertility treatment are false and misleading,” Dr. Anjum said. “Such a treatment simply does not exist anywhere in the world at present.” He emphasized that no leading medical jurisdiction, including the United States, India, China, or Japan, recognizes such procedures as scientifically validated.
According to Dr. Anjum, Dr. Shahnawaz first came to public attention roughly seven years ago when she announced the birth of what she described as the “world’s first stem cell baby.” Experts reportedly questioned the claim immediately, and it failed to gain recognition in any peer-reviewed journal or international medical forum. Nevertheless, critics allege that promotional campaigns continued, including public displays of infants presented as success stories, which encouraged financially vulnerable families to pursue the treatment at significant personal cost.
Several affected families claim to have sold land, jewelry, and other assets to fund the procedure, often facing repeated failures. While exact figures are unverified, critics estimate that these alleged operations may have caused financial losses running into billions of rupees over several years.
Equally troubling, according to Dr. Anjum, is the apparent lack of regulatory oversight. He questioned why government authorities and medical councils had not launched a formal investigation into the treatment claims for over seven years, despite repeated public announcements and widespread advertising. Medical experts note that stem cell research in fertility remains largely experimental worldwide and is confined to controlled laboratory and clinical research under strict ethical and regulatory supervision.
Dr. Anjum has urged Pakistan’s health authorities, medical councils, and law enforcement agencies to initiate an independent and transparent investigation into the matter, aiming to protect patients and restore public trust in reproductive medicine. Attempts to obtain a response from Dr. Sajida Shahnawaz regarding the allegations were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.
