For Wang Mei-ling (王美玲) and her American husband Tom York, the four years of mental anguish and physical pain brought on by Mei-ling's fertility treatment proved not to be futile. After 20 failed attempts at clinics and medical centers, two trials of in-vitro fertilization at Taipei Veterans General Hospital finally gave the couple one beautiful girl and three male triplets.
"I'd like to give my girl a younger sister to keep her company," said Wang, as her face beamed with joy.
Uncertainty
Wang was told by doctors before she got married that she was infertile, but the couple refused to accept a childless marriage.
"Having a big family has been our dream since we met 17 years ago," York, the father of four said, holding a sleepy son while keeping a close watch on his two-year-old daughter playing about in the hospital lobby.
In-vitro celebration
The couple brought their children to the hospital to meet nearly 200 test-tube babies at a ceremony on Saturday in celebration of 20th anniversary of the conception of Taiwan's first test tube baby.
During the memorable jubilee, their adorable children soon grabbed the media limelight and became the admiration of the nation's in-vitro family.
The York family is a testament to Taiwan's advanced reproductive technology. Taipei Veterans General Hospital gave birth to the nation's first tube baby in 1985.
The hospital has since helped 6,094 women wanting to conceive, and to date, delivered 2,356 test tube babies. Over the past 20 years, the conception rate by way of in-vitro fertilization at the hospital has risen from 12 percent to 35 percent.
"Our children are a miracle. For me, the in-vitro conception rate in the hospital's is 100 percent!" Wang said.
Taiwan's success story
The success story of York and Wang is also speaks volumes as to the future of in-vitro fertilization in Taiwan. With an increase in interracial marriages, an increasing number of Taiwanese women and their foreign husbands are coming to Taiwan for the 45-days of fertility treatment.
"The treatment in Taiwan is just as safe as in the US. It's also more affordable here," York said.
Despite medical advances in recent years, the cost of in-vitro fertilization has not come down. It runs as high as remains as NT$120,000, while the price triple that in the US.
Prominent fertility doctors also build a healthy international reputation. Chang Sheng-ping (張昇平), the chief the hospitals' reproductive endocrinology department, has had patients from Japan, Britain, the US and Switzerland knocking at his door.
In a five-year-span, for instance, Chang had delivered 12 test tube babies who now live in Dallas, Texas.
"The number of in-vitro children living in Dallas is enough to form two basketball teams," Chang said jokingly.
Dubbed as "godfather" by the test tube children, the doctor was busy at the ceremony taking pictures and signing autographing photos for the families.
"Dr. Chang, could you spare a moment? I want to talk to you about having a second child," a man shouted to Chang, who was encircled by a crowd of admirers.
"Yes, of course," the renowned doctor yelled back.
Yet behind the joy, there are untold stories of suffering while patients undergo fertility treatment.
"Sometimes I had to get three jabs a day. I got lumps on my rear end and I could barely sit down without pain," Wang recalled.
Hit and miss
Physical agony aside, the fear of false signs of pregnancy also weighed heavily on her.
"Because of the progesterone injections, I was led to believe that I was pregnant, when in fact I wasn't. It is cruel to give hope to my family and then destroy that hope," she said.
The repeated disillusionments finally forced Wang to conduct the fertilization in secrecy.
"I didn't tell anyone what was happening -- not my friends, and not even my family," Wang said.
For York, the ordeal took its toll as he had to watch the suffering of his wife, while he was left powerless to help.
"Watching her undergo the pain tortured me. I could only give her reassurance and support," he said.
Unlike Wang, other mothers went through the nerve-racking anxiety during in treatment without their husbands' knowledge.
Painful process
For the monther of Taiwan's first test-tube girl Poyin Chen (陳柏穎), the pain during the in-vitro treatment 20 years ago is still etched in her memory.
"I didn't want to drag my husband through this kind of distress. The technology at that time was at a very early stage. I was on tenterhooks every day. It was very painful," Chen's mother said.
Partly to escape media intrusion during Poyin's childhood, the Chen family moved to the US when Chen was four.
"I don't feel special. My classmates who know it don't treat me differently," said Chen, who is now a sophomore at UC Davis majoring in microbiology.
Discovering she was a test-tube baby at an early age, Chen aspired to be a scientist.
"I hope to advance into the research into viruses and infectious diseases. It was my doctors who inspired me to take that path," Chen said.
Inspiration
"I thank my doctors for giving me life and giving me a purpose in life. I hope that in the future, I can bring life and hope to people as much as you have touched the lives of everyone here," Chen said to the audience of over 200 in-vitro families at the celebration on Saturday.
Taiwan's first tube baby, surnamed Chang, who used to shun media fanfare, also voiced a similar sentiment.
Making his first public appearance at the event, Chang said "I know I am a product of technology and I have to thank the hospital for my birth."
"I want to study the life sciences in order to help people," he said after cutting a birthday cake together with Chen.
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