The first surrogate baby girl was born weighing 3.6 kg

At exactly 7:26 a.m., 10 minutes after the surgery, Professor Nguyen Viet Tien held the 3.6 kg baby girl and gave her to the happy parents.

This morning, at the Central Maternity Hospital, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Viet Tien - Deputy Minister of Health, Director of the National Center for Reproductive Support was the one who directly performed the cesarean section for the first surrogate pregnancy case in Vietnam.

The first baby born through surrogacy. It is expected that 10 babies will be born through this method in the near future. Photo: Manh Thang

Ms. H. and her husband were present at the hospital early in the morning to prepare to welcome their child born by this special method.

She shared that due to congenital defects in her reproductive system, she was unable to get pregnant. After 16 years of unsuccessful treatment, after the MTH law was passed, in March 2015, they completed the registration procedure.

The surrogate mother for her is her aunt, who is 46 years old this year. This is the only person who is qualified to help her fulfill her wish. Receiving their daughter from Deputy Minister Tien, Ms. H and her husband could not contain their emotions. She said in tears: "I am really happy. The baby is very beautiful. We will name our daughter Dinh Quynh Anh".

After the baby is born, the surrogate mother will help the couple breastfeed for 1 month. After that, the baby will be fed with formula.

Professor Tien said that surrogacy is a form of using the mother's egg and the father's sperm to fertilize in vitro, then transfer the embryo into the uterus of a woman who voluntarily carries the pregnancy. The transferred embryo does not carry any genetic factors of the person being gestated. Only when this person is sick will it affect the development of the fetus, but it does not affect the child's genetics.

The implementation of this technique is completely different from the process of egg donation, embryo donation, sperm donation. Couples must use the MTH technique because the woman herself does not have a uterus (congenital disease) but still has ovaries or has an abnormal uterus. In such cases, the egg retrieval technique is also much more difficult. There are even cases where the technique must be performed through the abdominal wall, if there is no experience, it cannot be retrieved.

Sharing more about this case, Professor Tien said that the mother did not have a uterus so she could never get pregnant, but the husband's ovaries and sperm were still normal so the doctors performed MTH.

The number of approved cases at the Central Maternity Hospital is currently more than 60 cases, and nationwide (at all 3 centers) is more than 100 cases. Places like Australia only perform about 20 cases per year, which means Vietnam has 4 times more.

He himself has convinced many couples to only perform IVF when doctors cannot find a way, not to do it arbitrarily.

Previously, in vitro fertilization was the only way to save lives, and only when it failed was MTH performed. Regarding the cost, Deputy Minister Tien said it was equivalent to in vitro fertilization, averaging 60 million VND per case.

According to the revised Law on Marriage and Family, couples have the right to ask for a surrogate mother when they meet the following conditions: Confirmation from a medical facility that the wife cannot get pregnant and give birth even with IVF; the couple does not have children together; and have received medical, legal, and psychological counseling. The person who is asked for a surrogate mother must meet the following conditions: be a relative of the wife (or husband) who is asking for a surrogate mother; have given birth and have only been a surrogate mother once; be of the appropriate age and have confirmation from a medical facility about her ability to become a surrogate mother; if the surrogate mother is married, she must have written consent from her husband; and have received medical, legal, and psychological counseling.

12 types of documents required to perform MTH technique:

1. Application for MTH technique implementation according to form.

2. Voluntary commitment to donate MTH for humanitarian purposes according to the form.

3. A statement from the person agreeing to MTH that he/she has never had MTH before.

4. Confirmation of the couple's childless status, certified by the People's Committee of the commune where they permanently reside.

5. Confirmation from the medical facility performing the in vitro fertilization that the wife has a medical condition that, if she becomes pregnant, will pose a high risk to the health and life of the mother and fetus. The mother cannot become pregnant and give birth even with assisted reproductive technology.

6. Confirmation from the medical facility performing in vitro fertilization for the MTH person regarding the ability to get pregnant, meeting the regulations for embryo recipients as prescribed.

7. Confirmation from the People's Committee of the commune level or the MTH, the person asking MTH to prove by himself/herself the relationship of relatives of the same line based on relevant civil status documents and be responsible before the law for the authenticity of these documents.

8. Confirmation from the husband of the MTH (in case the MTH woman is married) about agreeing to MTH.

9. Confirmation of medical advice from obstetrician.

10. Confirmation of psychological counseling content by a person with a university degree in psychology or higher.

11. Confirmation of legal advice from a lawyer or legal practitioner or legal assistant.

12. The agreement on surrogacy for humanitarian purposes between the spouses requesting surrogacy and the surrogate, according to the prescribed form, must be notarized.

According to Zing.vn