Having been annoyed by sterility for 7 years, Mr. Liu and his wife were happy to have their baby boy born before the Spring Festival, or Chinese lunar new year, with the help of experts from the Shanghai Ji'ai Genetics and Sterility Center.
By early this month, the hospital has helped 1,002 sterile women successfully conceive and 439 test-tube babies were born at the hospital, 217 boys and 222 girls.
The gestation rate at the hospital has reached 40 percent, higher than its US cooperation partner's 30 percent and also top among the world counterparts.
The hospital is the largest modern genetic and test-tube baby center in the country. It was founded in September 1998, jointly sponsored by the attached maternity hospital of the prestigious local Fudan University and the US Genetic and Aided Pregnancy Institute, the largest of its kind in the United States.
Since its founding, the center has treated some 30,000 patients, who came from not only the Chinese mainland, also Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, Yan Jingming, gynecologist of the hospital, said.
Higher gestation rate resulted from the hospital's technical innovation. It first developed single sperm puncture in liquor folliculi in east China region, making 401 sterile women pregnant.
The hospital used transplantation of resuscitated frozen embryos to save the unwanted embryos of female patients for future use, cutting their treatment expenses.
To treat aspermia or lack of sperms, the hospital invented sperm aspiration from testicles, and the technique enabled 64 aspermatic men have their own babies, aided with test-tube baby technologies.
The hospital will develop an internationally advanced third generation of test-tube baby technologies to promote prepotency in the country, according to the hospital sources.
(Xinhua 02/24/2001)
