Text/Yangcheng Evening News all-media reporter Zhang Hua
Correspondent Lin Huifang
"I'm a special mom, so special that before that I thought pregnancy was an extremely dangerous thing for me, so special that I thought I would never have a healthy baby in this life."
Recently, a couple carrying thalassemia genes finally successfully gave birth to a healthy baby through the third generation of IVF assisted reproductive technology in the Reproductive Health and Infertility Department of Guangdong Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital after two inductions. Ms. Chen expressed her joy to reporters, "We single-gene disease patients should have a positive attitude like sunflowers, follow the doctor's arrangement step by step, and believe that a good pregnancy will naturally come." ”
Photo/Visual China
Because of carrying the thalassemia gene
Two consecutive pregnancies had to be terminated
Speaking of the bumpy road to seeking a child, Ms. Chen recalled that she could not help but shed tears. "Five years ago, I was pregnant for the first time, waiting for the baby to be born, and during the obstetric examination, the doctor told us that because we were all Mediterranean poor carriers, this pregnancy would have a 1/4 chance of giving birth to a severe poor child.
At the time, I naively thought I wouldn't get caught. During the obstetric examination at 25 weeks of pregnancy, my hands and feet were somewhat edematous, and the ultrasound examination found that the baby was also edema in the uterus, which the doctor said was a bad sign. ”
Further checks were followed, and Ms. Chen returned home to wait for the news. Unexpectedly, Ms. Chen suddenly convulsed, and her family rushed her to the hospital, and then received a critical illness notice. It turned out that the edema fetus caused an increase in maternal blood pressure, ms. Chen's blood pressure at that time was as high as 200/140mmHg, which could burst blood vessels at any time, and if it was serious, it could become a vegetative person.
In order to save the adults, the family sent Ms. Chen to Guangzhou Hospital overnight for rescue, and because the condition could not be controlled, they underwent laparotomy on the same day. Ms. Chen said, "I lost my baby before I could even look at him. ”
Ms. Chen, who walked through the ghost gate, was discouraged. "I don't dare to have a child again, I use contraception all the time, and I can't even hear anyone discuss things about children." Unexpectedly, a year later, I accidentally became pregnant again. Ms. Chen silently prayed: "If you can exchange for the health of the baby, you would rather live for ten years." ”
However, the results of the fetal villi at 14 weeks of pregnancy when she was tested and the fetal villi at 17 weeks of pregnancy still could not escape the heavy poverty! Ms. Chen was distressed and disappointed, "Why is the 25% chance in the doctor's mouth 100% in my place?!" ”
Guangdong Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital Reproductive Health and Infertility Laboratory of Guangdong Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital
Ivory is conceived in one go
After experiencing the pain of losing her son twice, Ms. Chen was physically and mentally exhausted and did not dare to expect a healthy child. But the whole family has not given up and is trying to find a way.
On Ms. Chen's birthday, she received a special birthday gift from her family: a bouquet of flowers and a medical record, and it turned out that Ms. Chen's husband went to the Guangdong Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital for consultation and learned that she had the opportunity to have a healthy baby through the third generation of IVF assisted reproductive technology.
"On that day, we made an appointment with Liu Fenghua, chief physician of the Provincial Department of Maternal and Child Reproductive Health and Infertility, who helped us answer all our questions and gave me the confidence to try this method." Ms. Chen said, "After pedigree verification, pre-experimentation and a series of examinations, we successfully filed files to promote ovulation and egg retrieval. I firmly believe that this is a path of hope.
A month later, the biopsy results of the blastocyst came out, one was completely normal, the other two carried the poor gene, after the transplantation of a completely normal blastocyst, Ms. Chen "won the lottery" once, and the results of the fetus's amniocentesis also confirmed that the baby was healthy.
Full of expectations, Ms. Chen finally gave birth to a healthy baby. She said that to believe in science, friends with single-gene diseases should have a positive attitude like sunflowers, follow the doctor's arrangement step by step, and believe that "good pregnancy" will naturally come.
Assisted reproductive technologies minimize maternal damage
Thalassemia is a genetic disease with a high incidence in Guangdong. According to statistics, the gene carrying rate of thalassemia in guangdong childbearing age population is 16.8%, which means that on average, 1 out of 6 people carries the poverty gene. If one of the spouses is a carrier of the poor gene, each pregnancy will give the child a 50% chance of becoming a gene carrier.
Zhang Xiqian, director of the Reproductive Health and Infertility Department of Guangdong Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital, told reporters that if both husband and wife are carriers of the same type of gene in poverty, each pregnancy, 25% of the fetus is normal, 50% is a gene carrier, and 25% is a severely poor child.
Since there are more than 100 newly born children with severe poverty in Guangdong every year, there is no special cure for this disease, only intermittent blood transfusions or transfusion of concentrated red blood cells to supplement the shortage of red blood cells. Therefore, the traditional treatment cost of each severely impoverished family is nearly one million, which brings a heavy burden to the family and society.
How to solve this puzzle? Human assisted reproductive technology is a path of choice. "In the past 5 years, about 400 couples have received three generations of IVF assisted reproductive technology in the province because of local poverty, accounting for 2% of all IVF cycles and 15% of the three-generation IVF cycle; the total pregnancy rate of these patients in 5 years has reached 68%, and 120 healthy babies have been successfully delivered." There are still more than two dozen in production in 2022. Zhang Xiqian said.
According to the reporter's understanding, since 2015, all couples of childbearing age who are registered in Guangdong Province can get free poverty screening services during marriage tests/pregnancy checks.
As for whether all couples with thalassemia genes can opt for IVF assisted reproductive technology? Zhang Xiqian said that this needs to clarify the poverty genes of both husband and wife, if it is the same type of poverty, it is indeed a case of severe poverty or relatively serious hemoglobin H disease, it is suggested that the third generation of IVF technology can be used to screen non-severe poverty embryos and implanted into the mother's uterus, this method can maximize the avoidance of maternal damage caused by the induction of labor of severe poor children. (For more news, please pay attention to Yangcheng Pie pai.ycwb.com)
Source | Yangcheng Evening News Yangcheng Pie
Editor-in-charge | Cui Wencan