More Foreigners Seeking Infertility Treatment in Vietnam

An increasing number of foreigners have been coming to Vietnam to seek in-vitro fertilization (IVF) in recent years thanks to the professional skills of Vietnamese doctors in this field and low treatment costs. The success rate of in-vitro fertilization at the Central Obstetrics Hospital in Hanoi is 50%-60% and about 65% at Tu Du and An Sinh hospitals in HCM City, compared to only about 40-45% in Thailand or Singapore. The cost for an IVF case in Vietnam is less than $5,000 while it ranges from $15,000 to $30,000 in other countries. In addition, many Vietnamese doctors, who have studied abroad, can communicate in English. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Viet Tien, deputy minister of health, said that about 6,000 IVF cases are conducted at local hospitals every year, with many of them coming from America, Europe and African. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, who laid the foundation for this technique in Vietnam and is now the chair of the HCM City Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Association, said IVF method has resulted in more than 10,000 births to date. Dr. Phuong noted that Vietnam began providing the IVF treatment for foreigners in 2000 at the three hospitals in HCM City, including An Sinh, Van Hanh and Tu Du. The Tu Du Obstetrics Hospital alone served more than 200 foreign patients a year. Dr. Ho Manh Tuong, director of the infertility treatment faculty of the An Sinh Hospital said about 100 foreigners are treated with infertility at the hospital each year and some of them come from Europe. “In some cases foreign patients went to Vietnam after foreign hospitals failed to help them to have a child and their dreams became true in Vietnam,” Dr. Tuong said. (infonet.vn Feb 24)