Advanced techniques helping struggling Chinese parents to conceive

Progress in assisted reproductive technologies is helping more Chinese parents achieve their dream of having a second child, a senior health official said on Saturday.

“The willingness among parents to have more children has seen a surge since the second-child policy, but instances of infertility have also risen,” said Qin Geng, head of the National Health Commission’s women and child division.

China relaxed its family planning policy in early 2016, allowing all couples to have a second child. However, some mothers were already beyond childbearing age.

Advancements in assisted reproduction are playing a big part in helping families looking to expand, according to Qin, who said China had 451 institutions qualified for such services as well as 23 sperm banks by the end of 2016.

He was speaking at a forum on Saturday to mark the 30th anniversary of the first birth resulting from in vitro fertilization on the Chinese mainland, which was recorded at Peking University Third Hospital in March 1988.

Qiao Jie, director of the hospital, which organized the event with the Chinese Medical Doctors Association, said Chinese specialists now have a better understanding of the human reproductive system and have made breakthroughs in preventing the spread of hereditary diseases through reproductive cells.

“China has mastered nearly all of the world’s leading assisted reproductive technologies and is capable of treating infertile patients covering a wide range of categories,” she said.