Finance
A 70-year-old woman in Mumbai donated a kidney to her 43-year-old daughter-in-law earlier this month, setting an example at a time when several incidents of ‘saas-bahu’ rivalry have hit the headlines.
Doctors at Mumbai’s Nanavati Hospital conducted the transplant surgery on August 1 for Ameesha, who had been diagnosed with chronic kidney disease last year, resulting in kidney damage.
While Ameesha is recovering at the hospital, her mother-in-law, Prabha Kantilal Mota, returned home to a rousing reception organised by her family.
Prabha Kantilal Mota said, “I decided to ‘gift’ a kidney to my daughter-in-law because my three sons were scared to do so. Everyone refused. I am perfectly fit, I will give it.” I will ask PM Narendra Modi to call on people to come forward to become donors,” Ms Mota said, emphasizing, “I look at her as my daughter, not daughter-in-law.”
Jitesh Mota, Ameesha’s husband who is a diabetic and not eligible to donate, said he wanted to save his wife’s life, but was also worried about her mother’s health. “The doctor said there was a waiting period of more than eight years for the donor. My mother then said that she would give the kidney,” Mr Mota said.
Dr Chandrakant Lallan, the family doctor of the Motas, said he has never come across such donation in 44 years of his career as a doctor. “Most organ donors in India are women who donate these organs to their spouses, parents, or children. But a mother-in-law donating her kidney to her daughter-in-law is rare,” Dr Lallan said.
