A surrogate mother had an embryo implanted into her uterus in what is known as the first surrogacy pregnancy case in Ho Chi Minh City at a major onsterics hospital on Friday, nearly three months after surrogate pregnancy is allowed in Vietnam.

The woman, who acts as a surrogate mother for a 44-year-old Vietnamese-American woman who is infertile, had the implantation carried out by doctors at the city's Tu Du Obstetrics Hospital.

Whether the embryo can develop well in the uterus of the surrogate mother remains to be seen in about two weeks, said Dr. Hoang Thi Diem Tuyet, deputy director of the hospital. 

The woman who received surrogacy had the embryo kept at the hospital before the implant, the doctor added.  A surrogacy is a case in which the embryo of a biological child of a woman and her spouse is implanted into the uterus of the recipient after it is created through the in-vitro fertility technique. The names of the two women, who are cousins, have yet to be revealed. The Vietnamese-American woman had experienced many times of infertile treatment, including the in-vitro fertilization method, in both the U.S. and Vietnam but she failed to get pregnant. After knowing that Vietnam allowed surrogate pregnancy, the childless woman returned to Vietnam to carry out procedures for the surrogacy, the doctor said. After her application for surrogacy was approved by the medical council of the hospital, she had a cousin of hers to help her as a surrogate mother. The provider surrogacy, who is living in Vietnam, was married and have two children.  Tu Du is one of the three hospitals allowed by the Ministry of Health to perform cases of surrogate pregnancy. The regulation allowing surrogacy in Vietnam is part of the revised Law on Marriage and Family that came into force on March 15, enabling people to act or have others act as surrogate mothers for humanitarian purposes on a voluntary basis after satisfying certain requirements. Along with Tu Du, two other major clinics assigned by the Ministry of Health to handle surrogacy cases are the National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Hanoi, and the Hue Central Hospital in the central city of Hue.

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