Conceiving a dream, delivering a reality
By WANG YAN AND DUAN YAN
CHANGSHA / BEIJING - Chinese doctors had just begun to study humanembryos when the world’s first “test tube baby”, Louise Brown, was born inBritain in 1978.
The “cultural revolution” (1966-76) had just come to an end and LuGuangxiu, one of the pioneers of in vitro fertilization (IVF) technology in China,recalled how she could hardly find any research material.
“In 1980, my father (Lu Huilin) brought up the idea of test tube babies inChina, in the hope of increasing the national power,” said the doctor. “Back then,China was very poor, with the nation dubbed ‘the sick man of Asia’.”
Meanwhile that year, Zhang Lizhu, another trailblazer, was asked to speakon China’s family planning policy at the Second World Conference on Women inCopenhagen, Denmark. It was an event that thrust the Peking University professorinto the public eye.
Shortly after, letters started arriving from couples across the country, eachhighlighting the pain of infertility and the desperate search for a solution. By thetime Zhang began her IVF research in earnest in 1986, she had received morethan 6,300 letters.
Zhang took on the mission as part of a collaborative group that includedPeking University No 3 Hospital, Central South University’s school of medicinein Changsha, capital of Hunan province, and Peking Union Medical CollegeHospital. Each received a share of 100,000 yuan (14,000) put aside by China’sNational Natural Science Foundation.
Conditions early on were far from ideal, however.
“I had distilled water (from the faucets) five times but it was still too dirty(for the tests) because of the heavily polluted rivers and lakes,” said Lu at CentralSouth University, who worked in a 2-square-meter area enclosed by hangingcoats. “To sterilize the area I kept a stove burning at all times, which kept thetemperature at 40 C.”
Scientists on Zhang’s team, meanwhile, had to put test tubes filled withfollicular fluid from patients into a thermos container and then run across PekingUniversity’s sports ground to the laboratory.
Fortunately, the poor facilities did not stop the research and, on the morningof March 10, 1988, the first “test tube baby” born in China was delivered atPeking University No 3 Hospital. The girl was named Zheng Mengzhu. A secondbaby was born at the hospital in May, with a third and fourth delivered in June atXiangya Hospital in Changsha.
“We talk with reporters often,” said 22-year-old Zhang Minxing, the thirdtest tube baby, who now works at Xiangya Hospital. “The earliest interview I canremember was when I was about 10.”
She added that the most common questions she is asked is “Do you think youare different from others?” and “How do other people see you?”
“I never know what to say,” said the college graduate, who now researchesstem cells. “I don’t see myself as different from others.”
Since the two Changsha babies were born, Dr Lu has worked tirelessly toprotect their privacy and carefully vets all interview requests from the media.
Peking University No 3 Hospital also handles the press for Zheng Mengzhu (staffsaid the hospital has lost contact with the second child born through IVF), withmost interview requests turned down.
“She’s a normal kid who is growing up like others,” said Qiao Jie, directorof the hospital’s reproductive medical center. “She should be allowed to enjoy anormal life.”
Wang Yan reported from Changsha. Duan Yan reported and wrote the storyfrom Beijing.
November 2, 2010
Heartache of childless couples
Rise in infertility threatens marriages and society.
He Na in Beijing reports.
When Chen Song married Wang Qian in 2006, his parents thought he had madethe perfect choice and bragged about her beauty and obedient nature to friendsand family.
Yet, three years later, simply a mention of their daughter-in-law’s name was enough tothrow them into a fit of frustrated anger. The reason: Wang was unable to get pregnant.
“We love children. We had planned to have one as soon as we got married,” saidChen, 35, an associate college professor in Shanghai. “But it didn’t happen. My wife’s bellyremained flat.”
After several medical check-ups, Wang, now 31, was diagnosed as infertile, a conditionthat is becoming increasingly prevalent in men and women across the country.
“My parents became furious whenever they heard about one of my classmates orfriends having a child. I was afraid to go home,” said Chen, who with Wang, has spentthousands of yuan trying to get help from 10 hospitals.
More than 40 million people suffer infertility problems, accounting for about 12percent of the population who are of childbearing age, according to data released duringthe China International Summit Forum on Infertility in Beijing in August.
And in some developed coastal regions, the proportion is even higher.
Figures from Qingdao Maternity and Children’s Healthcare Center in Shandongprovince showed the city’s infertility rate has hit 15 percent, while a survey by theDongguan Family Planning Association in Guangdong province found sterility affected18.9 percent of the local population.
“It means almost 1 out of 8 couples at childbearing age in China faces the problem,”
said Yuan Xin, a professor at Nankai University’s population and development researchinstitute. “Twenty years ago, the national rate was just 3 percent.”
Concern is now growing over how the trend will affect marriages, as well as the impacta lower birth rate will have on China’s aging society.
“If we don’t take effective measures to cope with increase in sterility and raise the birthrate, society will face severe challenges in the future,” warned Yuan.
The reasons behind growing infertility are numerous, say experts, who blamed acombination of unhealthy lifestyles, work stress, the greater use of abortions and worseningenvironmental pollution.
However, most agreed that the chief culprit is the fact more women are marrying andtrying for children after the age of 35.
