Tang Duc Cuong (left) consults a patient at IVF Hoe Nhai. — Photo hanoimoi.com.vn

Praised for having “golden hands”, the 38-year-old doctor of Hanoi-based Hoe Nhai Centre for Assisted Reproduction (IVF Hoe Nhai) has helped hundreds of people struggling to have their own babies.

His name has been googled for years and become well-known among infertile couples in Hanoi. Youth and early success, therefore, have become a motivation for Cuong to research new methods, combining both Western and oriental medicine in treating infertility.

“In many other hospitals, doctors of these two approaches usually do not meet on common ground. Here at IVF Hoe Nhai, we consult each other to offer the best possible treatment direction for each patient,” Cuong told Hà Nội Mới (New Hà Nội) newspaper.

Despite his tight schedule, the doctor never misses a call or message, as he said on the other end of the phone line, one might be drawing on all their strength to reach out for help.

“Although infertility treatment is now approachable, to win over complexity is still a real challenge to many people,” said Cuong. “If I miss a call or forget to answer a text, they might never start their treatments.”

The endeavours of Cuong and his partners help IVF Hoe Nhai achieve a success rate of up to 80 per cent, compared to 50 and 60 per cent at other assisted reproduction centres in the country.

Its reputation has gone beyond Vietnam, Cuong said, with patients from several other countries including India, Poland and China coming to the centre in the hope of becoming parents for the first time.

IVF Hoe Nhai’s Facebook fanpage has received a lot of thank-you notes left by couples who underwent treatments and had successful deliveries.

At the age of 47, Van Thuy Duong, vice principal of private school Luong The Vinh in Hanoi, had gone to famous hospitals in Vietnam and Thailand in an attempt to have another baby.

She had failed until she met doctor Cuong.

“From my own experiences, I think infertile Vietnamese couples do not need to go abroad to make their dreams come true,” said Duong.

“Here at IVF Hoe Nhai, besides modern medical facilities and affordable prices, doctors’ thoroughness makes it feel like home,” she added.

Working with older patients, Cuong stressed the significant role of innovations in embryo screening to ensure healthy babies.

“This helps patients avoid multiple pregnancies, which is usually associated with several complications,” he said.

Talking about his aspirations in 2020, Cuong said he and his partners at IVF Hoe Nhai were striving to have the centre certified by the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee while pursuing the path of harmonising eastern and western medicine in infertility treatment.

About 7.7 per cent of Vietnam’s population, equivalent to a million people, suffers infertility, according to a report by World Health Organisation. Nearly 50 per cent of them are under 30 years old.

According to HCM City Association of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, 20 years after the first time In-Vitro-Fertilisation (IVF) was introduced in Vietnam, there are 24 centres offering the intervention nationwide. The average success rate is from 40 to 60 per cent.

Thailand and Singapore are among popular destinations for infertile Vietnamese couples to undergo IVF. — VNS

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Doctor Nguyen Thi Nha’s email inbox is full of photos of babies with beaming smiles and heart-touching messages of gratitude.

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Dr Ho Ngoc Anh Vu of My Duc Hospital in HCM City won the Best Oral Presentation Award for his outstanding research at the 9th Congress of the Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction (ASPIRE 2019).