Vietnam Women's Union

Changing sexual behaviour and a lack of adequate educational information is causing higher rates of infertility among young women.

Thu Trang, mother of a ten year old girl, was diagnosed recently with an obstructed ovary tube preventing her from any future pregnancies.

Dr. Le Thi Phuong Lan, deputy director of the Central Hospital for Obstetrics and Gynaecology’s Reproductive Assistance Centre said that Trang’s case was becoming an alarmingly more common problem among young women.

Trang had used a contraceptive intra-uterine device (IUD). Lan says that many infertility cases were being caused by the relationship between such contraceptive methods and (ovarian tubes and gynaecological infections affecting the ovarian tubes). Figures show that infections accounted for 40 per cent of cases last year. This year they have increased to 56 per cent so far.

Similar results were found regarding abortion cases. A survey conducted by Tu Du Hospital in HCM City found that women who underwent abortion operations were 5.2 per cent more likely to suffer from infertility. The number of women who suffered from obstructed or infected ovary tubes after undergoing abortions accounted for 40-60 per cent of infertility cases.

Miscarriages and cervicitis increased infertility by 3.9 and 7.4 times, respectively.

Lan said that the changing sexual behaviour of young people was a leading cause. Women who choose to be sexually active must practice appropriate confraceptive methods and pursue the correct measures to prevent and stop infections. Often they are not informed of the necessary precautions involved with sexual activity at a young age, especially regarding the use of contraceptives.

Alternatives are available to women unable to traditionally conceive and bear children. In vitro fertilisation (IVF), where both sperm and eggs are harvested from the male and female partners, are fertilised externally and allowed to grow for a short time before being introduced into the uterus. Another method called intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), is implemented by injecting a single sperm into each egg and allowing fertilisation to occur in the laboratory.

Both are expensive and chances of success are relatively low. IVF costs around VND1 million and success is estimated at 10-15 per cent. ICSI costs VND30-40 million and chances are estimated at around 35 per cent.