After 4 years of marriage and a miscarriage, Huong Ly and Fauchee Yoann, who had been living in France, returned to Vietnam last year to seek treatment at the Center for Reproductive Support, Tam Anh General Hospital in Hanoi. Dr. Le Hoang, Director of the center, diagnosed Ly with blocked fallopian tubes and a severely depleted ovarian reserve, with an AMH level of just 0.88 ng/mL (normal range is 2-6 ng/mL). Yoann also had a low sperm count with poor motility and morphology.
To conceive, the couple needed in vitro fertilization (IVF). According to Dr. Hoang, a typical IVF cycle requires 10-15 eggs. In cases of diminished ovarian reserve, like Ly's, egg collection over multiple cycles is necessary to gather enough eggs, increasing the chances of having multiple embryos and improving the likelihood of pregnancy. Egg collection can also be more cost-effective than embryo banking, as it optimizes the embryo creation process through intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in a single procedure.
Ly underwent mild ovarian stimulation for 8 days, using a minimal amount of medication while ensuring the retrieval of the best quality eggs possible in each cycle. After two cycles, 8 eggs were collected. Sperm from her husband was processed to select the healthiest, most motile, and normally shaped sperm for fertilization. The resulting embryos were cultured in a time-lapse incubator, resulting in three day-5 embryos.
One embryo was transferred to Ly's uterus, resulting in a successful pregnancy. The remaining two embryos were cryopreserved. In June, the couple welcomed a healthy baby boy weighing 3.5 kg, delivered via cesarean section.
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Ly and her family with their newborn son. Photo: Tam Anh General Hospital |
Ly and her family with their newborn son. Photo: Tam Anh General Hospital
Dr. Hoang explained that while sperm production is continuous in men, women are born with a fixed number of eggs that gradually decline over time. A rapid decline in egg count can significantly impact a woman's fertility.
The egg collection strategy offers several benefits for women experiencing premature ovarian insufficiency, diminished ovarian reserve, or undergoing cancer treatment (chemotherapy/radiation) who wish to preserve their fertility. According to Dr. Hoang, eggs are the most challenging cells to freeze and thaw due to their large size and susceptibility to ice crystal formation, which can damage the cell, distort its structure, or cause chromosomal abnormalities. After thawing, while eggs may appear viable, their functionality for embryo creation is not guaranteed.
At Tam Anh's IVF center, with advanced vitrification technology, the egg survival rate after thawing exceeds 95%, with IVF success rates comparable to using fresh eggs. In 2024, the cumulative pregnancy rate after embryo transfer at Tam Anh IVF was 78.7%. Approximately 60% of these cases involved older women, those with low ovarian reserves, or those with long-term infertility who were recommended egg donation from other reproductive support units, requiring egg or embryo collection over multiple cycles to conceive a healthy child.
Trinh Mai
