“At the age of 29, after 4 years of marriage, my husband and I had our first child thanks to in vitro fertilization (IVF) treament. Currently, our baby is 8 months old and weighs more than 7kg” N.T.T residing in Hoa Cuong Bac Ward, Hai Chau District, Da Nang, said after successful infertility treatment.

N.T.T is one of a few infertile couples who have been successfully treated with modern medical techniques: IVF.

Doctor Mai Duc Tien is providing counseling for an infertile couple at the Da Nang Family General Hospital. Photo: D.H.L

High IVF success rates

Talking about her IVF journey, Ms. N.T.T said that her paternal and maternal families did not put pressure on her, but she and her husband always felt worried because they did not have kids after 4 years of marriage.

In particular, she has a medical history of diabetes, so she is more and more worried as she gets older. Finally, she went to the IVFMD FAMILY Fertility Support Unit under the Da Nang Family General Hospital to seek for support.

After screening both husband and wife, the doctor said that N.T.T had impaired ovarian function. Her number of eggs is less than her age, so she is advised to choose one of two solutions: IUI - intrauterine insemination and IVF - in vitro fertilization.

“I decided to do IVF because of the high probability of success. The doctors started treating me from June 2020, and by September 2020, I had the results. Although the first euploid embryo transfer failed, the second one was successful " said N.T.T.

Sharing the effectiveness of IVF method, Dr. Mai Duc Tien, Head of IVFMD FAMILY said that one of the advanced and modern techniques benefiting to infertile couples was Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). ICSI is a specialised form of IVF that is used primarily for the treatment of severe cases of male-factor infertility. ICSI involves the injection of a single sperm directly into a mature egg.

“In an IVF cycle, a blastocyst forms in a culture system in a laboratory. Eggs are retrieved from a woman's ovaries, fertilized with sperm, and an embryo is created. The embryo divides and multiplies its cells over 5 to 6 days to become a blastocyst. Embryos that survive to this stage of development have a high implantation potential once transferred into the uterine cavity” added Dr. Tien.

He noted the primary benefit to the patient of using blastocyst stage embryo culture is that fewer embryos need be transferred into the patient because each day 5 embryo has a higher chance of implanting than a day 3 embryo does. Transferring fewer embryos greatly reduces the risk for twin or triplet pregnancies and the associated risks to the mother and child. Additionally, embryos that continue to grow to the blastocyst stage have a lower rate of chromosomal errors and therefore a higher chance of resulting in a healthy baby.

H.P.L, a medical worker in Cam Le district, also had success with IVF treatment. After being married for 7 years, H.P.L went to many places for infertility treatment but with no results. When she went to the Family General Hospital, she was over 40 years old.

“This is a difficult case because not only H.P.L. has polycystic ovary syndrome, but her husband has abnormal sperm, not to mention the couple are elderly.

During the treatment, the doctors carried out IVF with ICSI technique and got 7 embryos and transferred the embryos 2 times. The first embryo was transferred successfully. After one year of giving birth to her first baby, H.P.L performed a second embryo transfer and gave birth to a set of twins. Now her family is very happy with three beautiful babies, happily said Dr. Tien.

Prevention is better than cure

According to Dr. Tien, infertile couples who are receiving treatment at IVFMD FAMILY have some health problems. For example, wives often have some gynecological diseases such as endometriosis, uterine fibroids, uterine polyps, tubal occlusion, tubal fluid retention, or immune system diseases like antiphospholipid syndrome, metabolic disorders, and decreased egg quantity and quality. Meanwhile, husbands suffer a decrease in the quantity and quality of sperm, no sperm in the ejaculate sample, Klinefelter, erectile dysfunction, ejaculation disorder, etc.

Obstetrician-gynecologist and infertility Doctor Dong Thi Hong Trang, Deputy Director of the Pasteur General Clinic located in Hoa Minh Ward, Lien Chieu District, said that the majority of infertility cases which are currently being treated at her clinic are due to polycystic ovaries, blocked fallopian tubes, old age, reduced ovarian reserve for women; or weak sperm, azoospermia, blocked vas deferens for men, even the cause is unknown.

“Currently, the clinic is implementing treatment methods such as: oocyte culture, egg stimulation and sperm injection, washing, egg stimulation for IVF. The success rate depends on each technique, ranging from 40 to 75 %. In the future, the clinic aims to build an IVF unit to meet the needs of patients and improve the ability to treat infertility for patients" underlined Dr. Trang.

Obstetrician-gynecologists in Da Nang recommend that those who have been married within one year and have not had children should go to the doctor early to determine causes of infertility.

Unmarried women over 35 years old should visit the doctor at least every 6 months for medical check-ups and prognosis, while those with cancer and old ages should go to the doctor to preserve their ability to have children. For men with mumps disease, cancer treatment, testicular function should go for a reproductive function test to prevent future.

Currently, the IVFMD FAMILY provides advice on preserving reproductive functions such as egg and sperm storage. In addition, couples are advised to make some healthy lifestyle changes with a focus on not using tobacco, stimulants and alcohol; eating a lot of green vegetables and fruits; avoiding stress and anxiety; and doing more physical exercise and playing sports.

“For women, it is recommended to take vitamin and folic acid supplements at least 3 months before trying to get pregnant. Early fertility tests for women help identify the causes of infertility so the condition can be properly treated, and the couple can have the best chance to conceive” emphasised doctor of reproductive support - obstetrics and gynecology Vo Van Cuong from IVFMD FAMILY.

Reporting by DOAN HAO LUONG - Translating by M.DUNG