China's first "test tube baby" gives birth
At the age of 31, Zheng Mengzhu gave birth to her first son in the same place she was born through in vitro fertilization.
On March 10, 1988, Zheng Mengzhu became the first baby born through in vitro fertilization in China. Ten years earlier, Louise Brown, the world's first test-tube baby, was born in England.
31 years later, on April 15, Mengzhu gave birth to a son at the same Peking University Third Hospital where she was born. The baby weighed 3.85 kg and was very healthy.
"Everything feels like a dream," said Zheng Guizhen, Zheng Mengzhu's mother. "Time flies so fast. Now Mengzhu has her own child."
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Mengzhu became a mother at the age of 31. Photo:Xinhua. |
The Zheng family has not yet named the boy. "I want him to have a normal name, evoking his will to study. But I want his name to remind me of the family's benefactor, Dr. Zhang Lizhu," Guizhen explained.
More than 30 years ago, Ms. Guizhen suffered from blocked fallopian tubes, which led to infertility. From their hometown in Gansu Province, Ms. Guizhen and her husband traveled to Beijing and participated in the in vitro fertilization trial led by Dr. Zhang Lizhu, without knowing what it was.
Dr. Zhang Lizhu is known as the mother of in vitro fertilization in China. The assisted reproduction center she founded at Peking University Third Hospital is a pioneer in the field. Dr. Zhang died in 2016.
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Doctor Zhang with Mengzhu. Photo:Baidu. |
Born in a special way, Zheng Mengzhu always thought she was as normal as anyone else. "I also need to eat, study, love and get married. I am very normal," she said.
After graduating from university, Mengzhu worked as a clerk at the reproductive center of Peking University Third Hospital.
In 2016, another "test tube baby" named Luo Youqun also got married and had a child. Youqun was born on June 7, 1988 and was the fourth case of in vitro fertilization in China.
