A 34-year-old woman who stopped menstruating a few years ago due to the side effects of aggressive cancer treatments is preparing to celebrate her first Mother’s Day this month after giving birth to a baby girl earlier last month with the help of in vitro fertilization techniques, health site healthnews.com.tw reported.
According to National Taiwan University Hospital reproductive endocrinologist Chen Shee-uan (陳思原), the woman was diagnosed with blood cancer about nine years ago and was at first reluctant to receive treatment for the disease because of the infertility risk such therapies carry.
“At the time, doctors recommended that the patient undergo a stem cell transplant, which is a surgery that can only be carried out after the recipient receives a series of chemotherapy and radiotherapy that may cause irreparable damage to their ovaries and stop the menstruation cycle,” Chen was quoted as saying in the site’s report.
After learning that the woman dreamed of becoming a mother, Chen advised her patient to freeze her eggs before starting the cancer therapies.
The woman agreed and had 38 of her eggs harvested and frozen, Chen said.
The patient got married in 2012 and decided last year to thaw 22 of the frozen eggs, about 20 of which had survived the process.
Given the woman’s condition, only one embryo was placed in her uterus to avoid twin pregnancies.
The embryo was implanted successfully and the woman gave birth to a healthy, 2,750g girl last month, a feat Chen attributed to the quality of the eggs.
“The eggs were of high quality since they were frozen when the woman was young. She still has 16 eggs and five embryos that are frozen, which means that she could potentially give birth to at least five more children if she chooses,” Chen was quoted as saying on the Web site.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) said a magnitude 4.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan yesterday was an independent event and part of a stress-adjustment process. The earthquake occurred at 4:47pm, with its epicenter at sea about 45.4km south of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 5.9km, the CWA said. The quake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in several townships in Yilan and neighboring Hualien County, where it measured 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the CWA said. Lin Po-yu (林柏佑), a division chief at the CWA's Seismological Center, told a news conference
RSS