A hospital in Ho Chi Minh City will start receiving applications for its free in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment from infertile couples later this month via a charitable program worth VND5.4 billion (US$234,000).

Dr. Dang Quang Vinh, deputy director of My Duc Hospital, confirmed on Wednesday that the infirmary had kick-started the seventh edition of its ‘Uom mam hanh phuc’ (Nurturing Happiness) program.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s program will provide free-of-charge IVF for 60 infertile couples who do not have the financial capacity to undergo the process, Vinh stated.

My Duc Hospital will receive applications from November 18 to 23, and treatment is expected to begin on December 14.

Couples participating in the program must meet nine criteria.

They must not have any child together, must not carry any sexually transmitted disease, and must be recommended to undergo IVF procedures by a doctor.

The wife has to be 37 years old or younger, while her ovarian reserve, breast, fallopian tube, and uterus must be in normal conditions.

The husband should have a sperm motility of at least one million and should not have abnormalities in his sperm shape.

Eligible couples will be exempted from all expenses related to IVF procedures until their seventh week into pregnancy or when the frozen embryos run out, according to Dr. Vinh.

The ‘Nurturing Happiness’ program was initiated in late 2014 based on the idea of Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, former director of Tu Du Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, who spearheaded the introduction of IVF treatment in Vietnam in the late 1990s.

The six previous editions of the program benefited 220 infertile couples across the country.

Each year, the program costs approximately VND5.4 billion, which is funded by hospital staff, donors, and partners in the field of IVF.

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