Pioneer worked hard to gain public acceptance of IVF

Despite initial rejection, doctor still soldiered on after seeing many couples struggle to conceive

For thousands of infertile couples in China and abroad, doctor Huang Guoning is the savior of their family dream.

Huang, 60, is considered one of the pioneers in reproductive medicine in the country. Through an in vitro fertilization procedure done by Huang, a baby boy - the first successful IVF baby in Southwest China - was born in Chongqing in 1997.

IVF is a process in which an egg is combined with sperm outside the body, or in vitro. The first human was born through this technology in 1978.

He was the first one in China to point out that the air quality in laboratories will affect the growth of embryos and even increase the health risks of fetuses.

To address the problem, he took the lead in the design and development of a smart lab project which had been implemented in many reproductive centers in China.

Huang and his colleagues at the Chongqing Institute of Reproductive Medicine under the Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children have provided assisted reproductive technology for couples across China and from abroad, including the United States, France, Japan and India.

The institute boasts a high pregnancy rate of over 60 percent and a high birth rate of over 50 percent.

"Every year, we receive over 300,000 outpatients, and half come from far away to Chongqing," Huang said. "I feel so happy that I can help so many families."

The hospital completed over 90,000 egg retrieval cycles between 1996 and last year, and completed 10,500 cycles last year alone.

China has an estimated 40 million couples that are infertile, meaning that they are unable to conceive naturally after trying for six months. About 20 percent of these couples need fertility treatment, according to the National Health Commission.

Born into a family of doctors, Huang was determined to follow the career path of his parents. After graduating from Chongqing Medical University in 1983, Huang worked as a doctor at the Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children.

"At that time, very few male doctors wanted to be a gynecologist," he recalled. "When I first started working, patients didn't trust me and refused my treatment."

However, Huang soon gained recognition through his hard work and outstanding professional skills. Having seen so many couples struggle to conceive, Huang suggested that the hospital establish a reproductive medicine institute in 1996, one of the few in China at that time.

Back in the 1990s, IVF was a very new and advanced technology in China. Only a few Chinese hospitals could conduct IVF procedures and the success rate was about 10 to 20 percent.

Moreover, Huang's team faced shortages in equipment and technology. He tried to collect related material from other doctors through phone calls and fax. But the biggest obstacle came from public suspicion and rejection of IVF technology.