After losing her only son three years ago, a 43-year-old woman decided to undergo tuboplasty — surgery to repair the fallopian tubes — and has given birth to a baby boy this March.
According to Su Wen-hsiang (蘇文祥), from Miaoli City Da Chien General Hospital’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, after the woman, surnamed Chen (陳), had her fourth child 20 years ago, she underwent tubal ligation surgery, a procedure for sterilization.
However, when her son died from an adverse reaction to medicine, Chen was inconsolable. Her husband then suggested that she “give birth to the son that she had lost” and the idea put Chen back on her feet, Su quoted her as saying.
However, because Chen’s fallopian tubes had been tied for more than two decades and she suffered from hydrosalpinx — a condition whereby the fallopian tubes are distally blocked with fluids — doctors told her she would be unable to give birth.
The doctors told Chen that her only option was to try to have a test-tube baby, but that method would only give Chen a 10 percent chance of success because of her age, decreased ovarian function and the deteriorated quality of her eggs.
Despite the bleak outlook, the couple did not give up and made an appointment with Su two years ago.
After assessing Chen’s situation with an ultrasonogram, the doctor confirmed that both of Chen’s fallopian tubes were distended by hydrosalpinx — a common complication after tuboplasty — and it would indeed be difficult to restore their function.
However, Su also found that despite the need to sever the right fallopian tube — because of the danger of complications and potential negative impact on the success rate of conceiving a test-tube baby — Chen’s left fallopian tube could possibly be reconnected.
Su said that after discussing the issue with the couple, Chen decided to have surgery to reconnect the tube.
After being discharged from the hospital, Chen opted not to pursue artificial impregnation and chose instead to rest at home and attempt to conceive naturally.
Su said that after half a year, Chen was about to start taking menotropin, a fertility drug, to attempt artificial insemination when it was confirmed that she was pregnant.
“I will never forget the first time Chen stepped into my office, with her worried expression reflecting the trials she had endured,” Su said, adding that aside from deeply empathizing with Chen after hearing her story, he was also touched by her courage and determined to help her in any way he could.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard