With the development of science and technology, IVF is not a rare thing today, and about 300,000 families in the mainland have come true to their dreams of seeking children because of IVF technology every year, becoming the country with the largest number of IVF reproduction cases per year in the world.
But 33 years ago, the mainland IVF test was still in the stage of feeling the stones and crossing the river, no one could guarantee that it would be able to overcome all kinds of risks to do something, in this case, in 1988, the first case of IVF in the mainland was born in Beijing, and the child was named Zheng Mengzhu.
As the first case of IVF, it is inevitable to take many risks, what prompted Zheng Mengzhu's parents to resolve IVF? What difficulties did they encounter during the test tube process? What is the current situation of Zheng Mengzhu, who is now 33 years old?
These questions also start with a couple in Gansu 33 years ago.
Test tubes give birth
Zuo Changlin and Zheng Guizhen are from Yanguan Town, Li County, Gansu Province, Zuo Changlin is a farmer, and Zheng Guizhen is a primary school teacher.
The two were very affectionate after marriage, and like most parents, they had been looking forward to having a child of their own, but the couple had been married for many years and had never been able to achieve their wishes, which made the two very worried, so they went to the hospital for examination.
The results of this examination were not good, and Zheng Guizhen was found to have bilateral fallopian tube blockages, which is the reason for Zheng Guizhen's infertility.
At that time, the condition could not be treated, which was tantamount to giving the couple a death sentence for their desire to have children.
But in that era, people generally believed that a family with children was a complete home, whether it was the couple's own strong desire for children, or the pointing of outsiders, so that the two were not willing to admit their fate.
The undead couple began to ask for medical treatment, hoping to find a solution.
After many inquiries, the couple learned that a hospital in Beijing was conducting infertility research - it was possible to get the patient to conceive a child through surgery.
After several twists and turns, the two came to the Third Clinical Medical College of Beijing Medical University and found Zhang Lizhu, an expert who was experimenting with IVF.
Dr. Zhang Lizhu was one of the first experts in China to study the subject of IVF and is authoritative in this regard.
However, at that time, due to the lack of maturity of domestic IVF technology, the past 12 surgeries have failed.
Whether IVF can be successfully bred is still unknown.
Even so, the couple who were eager for children still agreed to the attempt, they wanted to have children of their own, even if there was a glimmer of hope, they were not willing to give up.
In this regard, Dr. Zhang Lizhu began the thirteenth IVF operation.
Now that IVF technology is mature, egg retrieval only needs to be punctured under the guidance of vaginal ultrasound B ultrasound, and the egg can be easily retrieved.
However, if you want to retrieve the eggs at that time, you can only surgically remove the follicles in the ovaries on the day of ovulation.
After that, it is necessary to fertilize in vitro and transfer the embryo back into the patient's body.
Such a surgical procedure is complex and quite dangerous.
Whether it is the initial test surgery to understand the pelvic cavity, or a series of subsequent cultivation procedures such as ovulation induction, egg retrieval, in vitro fertilization, embryo transfer, etc., there are many risks.
Fortunately, with the cooperation of Dr. Zhang Lizhu and her team, all kinds of problems were solved one by one, the early surgery was a complete success, and the fertilized egg embryo successfully entered the mother's body for breeding.
Dr. Liu Ping, a disciple of Zhang Lizhu, described the feeling at that time: "At that time, we would be very happy to find an egg, and when we first saw the successful fertilization, we were very surprised and cheered, in fact, it was really the first step in the long march." ”
After the embryo has successfully entered the mother's body, the next step is to wait for the embryo to grow, and then the child is born by caesarean section.
This process seems simple, but it makes Zhang Lizhu feel unprecedented pressure.
Dr. Liu Ping recalled:
"When I was about to give birth, because this was the first case of IVF in the country, a special reporter carried a photographic instrument to record it. Dr. Zhang Lizhu was not very willing at that time, because at that time the technology was not as developed as it is now, only to know whether the baby in the abdomen was alive or not, but could not see the specific details, if the child was cut out of any defects, could not face everyone, everyone was waiting to meet a good thing, but only when it was revealed did they know what it was. ”
Fortunately, this is indeed a good thing.
On March 10, 1988, under the record of the camera, Zhang Guizhen successfully gave birth to the country's first IVF baby.
This is a cute little girl, who weighed 3.9 kg and was 52 cm long at birth.
After the birth of the child, Zheng Guizhen ignored the weakness of her own body and named the child:
"According to our exquisiteness, the child should have two names, the big name is called Zheng Mengzhu, ask for a germination upward meaning, and the bead word is used to express gratitude to Dr. Zhang Lizhu." We call her 'Yonglong', because the first time we went to Beijing was the Lama Temple, and this year also happens to be the Year of the Dragon. ”
After hearing the baby's crying, his father Zuo Changlin, who was waiting outside the delivery room, was also very excited, and he said with tears in his eyes when facing the reporter;
"We have three generations of single transmission, have been looking forward to having a child, but married for so many years have not been pregnant, my woman's life is bitter, from childhood without a father, and grandfather grew up together, the old man is 88 years old, can not see the child, his eyes can not be closed! Now well, I'll send a letter to Grandpa later! Thank you, thank you! ”
After the birth of Zheng Mengzhu, the news of the successful birth of the first case of IVF in the mainland became the headlines of major newspapers and periodicals, and the hospital also gave the mother and daughter the greatest care - arranging for them to live in a special room and doing many detailed examinations.
More than a month later, after confirming that Zheng Mengzhu's indicators were no different from ordinary children, the medical staff asked her parents to take her home.
When parting, Dr. Zhang Lizhu held Zheng Mengzhu and took a group photo with everyone.
Healthy growth
Although it is an IVF baby, Zheng Mengzhu grew up and was no different from ordinary children.
Zheng Mengzhu's parents said that Zheng Mengzhu is very smart, at 8 months old, she can already call her parents and mothers, and at the age of 1, she can say some simple words and phrases, and she can remember some English words.
Zheng Mengzhu is very healthy, she can walk when she is one and a half years old, and it is rare to get sick on weekdays.
By the time she was two years old, she weighed 12.25 kilograms and was 85 centimeters tall.
Weekdays are also very lively and active, when the follow-up reporter took pictures of her, she also had an optimistic look, without scruples to push the toy car around.
In 2006, Zheng Mengzhu became a big girl and was admitted to Xijing College in Xi'an on the college entrance examination, becoming a college student in the English Department.
At the age of 20, Zheng Mengzhu sang a song "Blooming Life" at the birthday party, zheng Mengzhu believes that this song can best express her heart, can sing the energy of life, and hopes that she can continue to interpret the light of life.
Looking at her own birth and growth on the big screen of the birthday party, Zheng Mengzhu had tears in her eyes, and the parents who came to participate were also moved to tears, and it was the birth of Zheng Mengzhu that rekindled the hope of becoming parents in their hearts.
Zheng Mengzhu used her own experience to tell people that IVF is no different from ordinary people, they can grow up healthy, live well, and can live happily like normal children.
In the process of Zheng Mengzhu's growth, Dr. Zhang Lizhu still maintained close contact with her.
Although Zheng Mengzhu returned to Gansu with her parents after being discharged from the hospital, she was far away from Dr. Zhang Lizhu in Beijing, but the distance still did not block the connection between the two.
During Dr. Zhang Lizhu's lifetime, the relationship between the two has always been very good.
Dr. Zhang Lizhu communicated with Zheng Mengzhu and her family by phone and email, and was very concerned about Zheng Mengzhu's growth, always asking her how she had recently studied, whether her health was still good, and whether she had gained weight and waited.
Zheng Mengzhu is also very grateful for Zhang Lizhu's concern, and often tells Zhang Lizhu about her troubles.
Once Zheng Mengzhu was pointed out by someone, she felt sad and somewhat inferior.
After Dr. Zhang Lizhu learned about it, she told Zheng Mengzhu about the difficulty of cultivating her embryos: at that time, because of lack of technology, the transport of follicles had to be carried out by insulated buckets to avoid inactivation on the way, and it was under the slightly backward incubator buckets that transported follicles that she was born.
After knowing that her life was not easy to come by, Zheng Mengzhu never paid attention to those gossip, but still spoke by others:
"When others know that I am IVF, they are very strange, and they often stare at me and want to know where there is a difference, so I let them look at it, and after watching it for a long time, they find that there is no difference, and they don't look at it." 」
In an interview, Zheng Mengzhu recalled the scene before Dr. Zhang Lizhu's death, when Dr. Zhang Lizhu was lying on the hospital bed, her consciousness was already a little blurred, but Zheng Mengzhu was recognized as soon as she entered the door when she went to visit, and Dr. Zhang Lizhu kept chanting her name in her mouth.
Whenever she thought of this scene, Zheng Mengzhu couldn't help but be moved to tears.
After the death of Dr. Zhang Lizhu, Zheng Mengzhu was deeply saddened, as if her relatives had left.
Mother Zheng Guizhen is also very grateful to Dr. Zhang Lizhu, feeling that without Dr. Zhang Lizhu, she would not have had her own daughter, let alone her own happiness.
She said: "Professor Zhang is a very kind person, who has helped us with such a big thing, but in all these years, he has not even asked for a melon seed from us." ”
Zheng Mengzhu's mobile phone has always kept a classic photo - Dr. Zhang Lizhu in a white coat holding the newborn Zheng Mengzhu and looking at her in her arms and smiling happily.
This was the photo taken when I was discharged from the hospital.
Whenever Zheng Mengzhu thought of Zhang Lizhu, she would take out this photo from her wallet and look at it, as if the other party was still there.
Today' current situation
In 2010, Zheng Mengzhu graduated from Xijing College in Xi'an, and she still came to work in the hospital where she was born, the Third Clinical Medical College of Beijing Medical University, which she said was a kind of return, and the hospital witnessed her birth, and working here was the same as coming home.
When asked about the specific work content, Zheng Mengzhu replied: "I work in the archives, mainly responsible for establishing cases, collating data and the like, which is also helping people who are similar to their mother's situation." ”
Establishing cases, combing data, and transmitting data are the daily work content of Zheng Mengzhu, she described herself as a little bee, the work is not so tall, but the diligent work is also helping everyone and contributing to the hospital.
Because of her special way of birth, Zheng Mengzhu has a strong sense of mission in this industry, and she hopes that she can help more families who are eager for children: "When others helped our family, now I can help others, which is also a kind of inheritance, for me, this is the best choice." 」 ”
In addition to her daily work, Zheng Mengzhu also communicates with families who want to have children in her spare time, and she often uses her own experience to explain their worries, saying that she is also an IVF baby, and now that so many years have passed, all values are very healthy.
Some even mistakenly believed that she was a doctor and wanted to see her for treatment.
When she was asked if she felt that she was more special, Zheng Mengzhu said that she did not feel that there was anything special about her: "Is it special? It's not special at all, I'm just an ordinary person, like everyone else, I have to eat, live, get married, it's quite ordinary. ”
However, Zheng Mengzhu also joked: "To be said to be special, that is, my growth has let the world know that China also has first-class medical technology." ”
On April 15, 2019, Zheng Mengzhu was waiting for delivery at the hospital where she was born and worked.
In a prenatal interview, Zheng Mengzhu said: "In fact, it is not very nervous, more is the feeling of expectation. ”
At 8:34 a.m., with the cry of the child in the operating room, a new life was born, which was the first case of IVF delivery in the mainland, which further proved the maturity of the mainland IVF technology.
Dr. Zhao Yangyu told reporters that the child weighed 3850 grams, had a body length of 52 centimeters, and was very healthy in all indicators of the body.
The doctor is the chief medical scientist of the national 13th Five-Year Plan Key Special Project, graduated from Peking University with a master's degree, returned to China after completing postdoctoral research at Stanford University, and the first IVF delivery operation was carried out by her.
Seeing the successful birth of the child, Dr. Zhao Yangyu said that she was very happy, she said: "Mengzhu gave birth to her own child, we are very happy. We feel very fortunate as witnesses to witness the birth of her child. Mother and child are safe, everyone rest assured. ”
Seeing the smooth birth of the child, Dr. Liu Ping, the current director of the hospital who participated in Zheng Mengzhu's birth surgery, also recalled the situation when Zheng Mengzhu was born: "I have to use strong to describe her, the conditions at that time were really not very good, she could become the first lucky person, a blessing." ”
In addition to the happiness of the mother and child, it is a little regrettable that Dr. Zhang Lizhu, who delivered Zheng Mengzhu, has passed away, and it is impossible to see zheng Mengzhu give birth to the baby.
In 2021, in the documentary "The Foresight", which was just broadcast this year, Zheng Mengzhu appeared again, and she showed reporters the current situation of her children.
Now the child is 2 years old, very healthy, very sensible on weekdays, often screaming about his mother.
When Zheng Mengzhu asked her on a video call, she said that she did not miss her mother and asked her mother not to worry.
epilogue
33 years later, as the first case of IVF in the mainland, Zheng Mengzhu did not have mutilation or health problems as people thought, and she was as happy and self-satisfied as when she was a child in the face of the interview, and now she has her own child and is witnessing her children growing up.
When others regained hope because of her, Zheng Mengzhu only expressed: "This is not my credit, to thank my second mother, Dr. Li Lizhu, who helped me come into this world and gave you the opportunity to realize your dreams." ”
Zheng Mengzhu is grateful, she inherited the legacy of Dr. Li Lizhu, in the hospital where she was born, she wants to regain hope for the families who have been as sad as her parents.