After a decade of being paralyzed, Hong Cheng-chin (洪正清) and his wife Hsieh Mei-yun (謝美雲) almost gave up hope of having children.
Last year, however, with the help of reproduction technology offered at National Taiwan University Hospital, the couple -- who are both paralyzed and confined to wheelchairs -- had a baby girl and became the nation's first paralyzed couple to rear a child.
Doctors at the National Taiwan University Hospital employed in vitro fertilization as an alternative to Hong's fertility problems. The major hurdle, doctors said, was collecting sperm from the paraplegia-inflicted husband. The couple is able to have intercourse but Hong is unable to ejaculate.
"Spinal cord injuries in adult males often lead to erectile dysfunction or difficulty ejaculating," said Wang Yen-ho (王顏和), a physician at NTU Hospital.
"Unlike females, who can resume egg production after three or six months after a spinal cord injury, about 76 percent of the males who are paralyzed cannot ejaculate during intercourse," Wang said.
To collect semen from Hong, Wang applied a series of short, low-voltage electric pulses to Hong's pelvic nerves, which induced ejaculation. Using this method, called "electroejaculation," doctors successfully collected 0.4cc of semen.
Then gynecologists injected the extracted sperm to Hsieh's egg and put fertilized embryo to her uterus.
"We performed intracytoplasmic sperm injection to allow the sperm to directly enter the egg," said Chen Shee-uan (陳思原), the gynecologist at NTU Hospital, who helped the couple conceive.
"In the case where sperm has problems penetrating the egg, this method results in fertilization success rates equal to or higher than normal," Chen said.
Over the past decade, 14 couples where the male was paralyzed have used this reproduction technology to increase their chances of conception. Twelve of the 14 couples were successful.
This couple, however, will be the nation's first in which both the male and female are paralyzed were to successfully have a child. Their case will be published in the US medical journal, the Archive of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, according to Chen.
For Hsieh, having a child is a long-awaited dream.
"After the accident, I thought I would never have the chance to fulfill my dream of having a family," she said.
Hsieh became paralyzed when fell from her apartment when she was 24 years old. Even when she met her husband, who also became paralyzed at the age of 24, Hsieh still thought that a wheelchair-bound couple would never experience the bliss of raising children.
Yet after five years of marriage, the Hongs decided to try artificial reproduction at NTU hospital. Now their baby is 11 months old.
"We realized that wheelchair-bound people actually have a lot in common with healthy, normal people. We can still live our lives the way we want," Hong said.
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS