Artificial intelligence helps 'embryo babies' be born healthy.

Fear of having a child with birth defects.

Married in 2011, Mr. Hai (45 years old) and his wife eagerly awaited a child, but the joy never came. In 2013, after traveling from Hau Giang to Ho Chi Minh City for a check-up, Mr. Hai was surprised to receive the results: his sperm was weak and 99% abnormal, making it difficult to conceive naturally.

The joy of doctors and infertile couples with their "Tam Anh babies".

Over a period of four years, Mr. and Mrs. Hai underwent in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments in various locations, completing three IVF cycles, but all eight embryo transfers failed. Five of these attempts resulted in no fetal heartbeat, two resulted in biochemical pregnancies, and one resulted in a premature baby girl with a brain hernia. The child passed away a year later.

"The series of losses devastated my wife, making her afraid to even think about getting pregnant because she was haunted by the fear of giving birth to a child with birth defects, a child who wouldn't be able to live," Hai said.

Master's degree holder and doctor Giang Huynh Nhu performs egg retrieval for patients.

In 2022, seeing many people in similar situations successfully treated at the In Vitro Fertilization Center of Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City (IVFTA-HCMC) and giving birth to healthy children, the couple's dream of having children rekindled. At age 44, after more than 10 years of marriage, Hai encouraged his wife to take one last gamble.

Unexpectedly, their situation worsened. Mr. Hai was diagnosed with "undescended sperm" (sperm sometimes present, sometimes absent) and 99% of his sperm were abnormal. Ms. Phuong's ovaries were "exhausted" after multiple previous ovulation induction procedures, with her ovarian reserve (AMH) at only 0.3. Holding the test results in their hands, they thought their chance of becoming parents was over, but the doctors at Tam Anh IVF Center encouraged them to "fight on."

Embryologists select the primary embryo using embryo analysis software that applies artificial intelligence.

"The doctor has accepted the challenging task, not missing the last remaining opportunity for you to fulfill your dreams, so are you ready to fight alongside me?", the warm and confident offer from Dr. Giang Huynh Nhu, Director of the Reproductive Support Center at Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, gave Mr. and Mrs. Hai more motivation and a premonition of good things to come.

As with all patients who come to Tam Anh IVF Center, Dr. Nhu began developing a personalized treatment plan for Mr. Hai and his wife. The husband underwent micro-TESE surgery to find sperm. With a modern surgical microscope system boasting 200x magnification, a wide field of view, and clear images, the doctors successfully extracted 8 precious sperm cells suitable for cryopreservation. Ms. Phuong received mild ovarian stimulation and egg retrieval over 3 cycles, resulting in 8 mature oocytes.

The initial results were so promising that they could proceed with in-vitro fertilization. However, the process of creating and culturing embryos will be a challenge for the lab experts because of the requirement to minimize failure with these "super-precious" egg and sperm samples.

All embryos were cultured in a time-lapse incubator system equipped with a 360-degree camera for continuous monitoring, integrated with AI software for embryo analysis. The results showed three good day-5 embryos. The state-of-the-art equipment system detected and eliminated two embryos with chromosomal abnormalities up to 70%. Chromosomal abnormalities are the main cause of embryo implantation failure, biochemical pregnancy, miscarriage, and fetal malformations. Fortunately, the remaining embryo developed normally, yielding good data and very high scores.

"Once we selected a good embryo, we decided to monitor the uterine lining naturally without medication. As expected, the wife conceived after a single day 5 embryo transfer. The fetus is developing healthily," said Dr. Giang Huynh Nhu.

In May 2023, Mr. Hai, whose hair had turned gray, held his healthy 3.2 kg son in his arms for the first time. "My whole family is experiencing complete happiness. Twelve years – a very long journey filled with despair, but here, we have found the sweet fruit," Mr. Hai said, his eyes welling up with tears, a stark contrast to his usual strong demeanor.

A bold direction in the field of assisted reproduction.

According to Dr. Giang Huynh Nhu, the Tam Anh General Hospital's In Vitro Fertilization Center (IVF Tam Anh) is both a source of pride and a great pressure, as over 70% of its cases are difficult ones, such as elderly patients, women with reduced ovarian reserve, multiple miscarriages, birth defects, and men with azoospermia who require sperm donation and have failed multiple times at other centers before... They come to IVF Tam Anh with their last hope, before having to choose the undesirable options of egg donation, sperm donation, or surrogacy.

"We need a new approach so they have the opportunity to have healthy children of their own," Dr. Nhu said.

With the strength of a "three-legged stool" – female infertility, male infertility, and embryology laboratory – all within a single assisted reproductive center, Master's degree holder and doctor Giang Huynh Nhu is confident in providing the most comprehensive and optimal treatment for couples facing infertility issues. After much deliberation, egg and sperm freezing techniques for older patients, women with low ovarian reserve or ovarian failure, and men with azoospermia or chromosomal abnormalities are the preferred options.

The first ultra-clean ISO 5 lab in Vietnam, the most modern in Southeast Asia.

"From a genetic perspective, egg cells are about 10,000 times larger than sperm cells, so the quality of the egg almost entirely determines the quality of the embryo and the child's genetics. However, egg cells are the largest cells in the human body and are 99% water, making successful cryopreservation very difficult, with a high mortality rate after thawing. Anticipating this as a challenging path, but one that can help many infertile couples have healthy children, we always strive our best in each case," said Master's degree holder and doctor Giang Huynh Nhu.

Dr. Giang Huynh Nhu, a Master's degree holder and physician, further explained that as a woman herself, she understands and empathizes more than anyone that no woman wants to ask for eggs, and no man wants to ask for sperm. Despite the difficulties, they still strive their best to have their own children. When choosing egg and sperm freezing as a different approach compared to other IVF centers, the sole objective is to help couples have more embryos, increasing their chances of having their own children, especially for patients with low egg count or azoospermia.

Currently, Tam Anh IVF Center has mastered modern vitrification techniques for egg and sperm freezing. The success rate of embryo creation from frozen eggs and sperm is equivalent to that of fresh eggs and sperm.

The development of micro-TESE technology is also a significant breakthrough, helping 75% of men with azoospermia (absence of sperm) avoid the risk of receiving sperm from others or adopting a child. Tam Anh IVF Center is the only assisted reproductive center in Vietnam that can simultaneously perform micro-TESE surgery in the operating room to find samples (seminar tubules), retrieve eggs in the procedure room, transfer samples and egg clusters to an adjacent laboratory for washing and sperm retrieval, and perform ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) to create embryos.

"For many infertile couples, embryos are sometimes more precious than gold. Therefore, we have been very strict in designing and installing the gas system, equipment, and materials to protect embryos and gametes from exposure to adverse external factors," Dr. Nhu said.

In May 2021, Dr. Nhu and her colleagues successfully built an ISO 5 ultra-clean lab inside an ISO 6 gamete and embryo manipulation lab. This "lab-in-a-lab" design is the world's first of its kind applied to embryo and gamete culture. This unique design separates the manipulation area from the culture area, thereby increasing environmental stability and promoting optimal embryo and gamete development.

Besides its ISO 5-standard lab, Tam Anh IVF Lab is also equipped with a modern technology system including embryo culture incubators with continuous camera surveillance and embryo analysis software using artificial intelligence to assist embryologists in selecting the best embryos for transfer into the mother's uterus, minimizing genetic defects.

At Tam Anh IVF Lab, all the most modern techniques are applied to maximize IVF success rates, such as autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection, assisted hatching (AH) technique, embryo biopsy for preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGT), ERA test to determine the implantation window… Tam Anh IVF currently leads the country in average IVF success rates of up to 68.5% and 70% in the group of clients under 30 years old.

Not only Mr. and Mrs. Hai, but every year tens of thousands of couples have successfully welcomed healthy, "own" children through the Tam Anh IVF System, instead of having to spend time, money, and effort going abroad to realize their dream of becoming parents as before.

Word of mouth has spread far and wide, attracting numerous foreign clients from the Philippines, Singapore, and leading medical nations such as the US, Russia, Japan, and Australia, who have traveled thousands of miles to Tam Anh IVF Center to seek healthy, biological children. In the first six months of 2023, the number of overseas Vietnamese clients seeking treatment at Tam Anh IVF Center tripled compared to the same period last year. With its remarkable advancements in assisted reproductive technology, Tam Anh IVF Center has achieved international-level professionalism, providing treatment opportunities not only for domestic residents but also opening up opportunities for medical tourism for foreigners visiting Vietnam.

Dr. Giang Huynh Nhu and her colleagues are still working tirelessly to complete the remaining 20% ​​of a "dream IVF center," not only aiming for high treatment efficacy and safety but also striving for greater customer satisfaction, resulting in more and more healthy, authentic "embryo babies" being born...

"Although assisted reproductive technology in Vietnam lags behind the world by 20 years and other countries in the region by about 10-15 years, we can now be proud that the position and stature of assisted reproductive technology in Vietnam has reached an important level, especially in some techniques where we can approach world-leading standards, gradually making IVF a cutting-edge field in medicine and biotechnology in Vietnam," said Master of Science - Doctor Giang Huynh Nhu.

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