DAVAO CITY—The first in-vitro fertilization (IVF) facility in Mindanao has marked its seventh year, after giving the island’s first test tube baby by a Muslim woman on its first year, and currently reaching its services to as far as the Sulawesi Region of Indonesia.
“We are fulfilled to have been helping many families realize their dreams of having their own children through IVF technology,” said Lourdes Cabling, medical director of IVF Davao.
In its web site, it listed stories of a “Muslim mother [who] gave birth to Mindanao’s first test-tube baby” and of a young woman politician who also gave birth to a son.
“Throughout our seven-year history, we have welcomed many couples and helped them go through the parenthood journey with comfort, care, and utmost guidance,” Cabling said.
The facility said that IVF “is a medical procedure wherein an egg cell and a sperm cell, extracted from a couple, are combined for fertilization within a laboratory facility. The fertilized egg or embryo is then injected into the woman’s uterus after about two weeks, inducing pregnancy.”
IVF Davao says “offers assisted reproductive technology services including egg freezing, sperm freezing, embryo freezing, testicular sperm extraction, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, and fertility counseling.”
“It provides a patient-centered care service and treatment for all age groups,” it added.
IVF Davao said it has invested in equipment to implement the newest medical technologies for fertility. “IVF Davao is the first IVF center in the entire island region of Mindanao. Prior to its opening in 2015, most IVF facilities in the country were in Metro Manila and Cebu,” it said.
“IVF Davao has been providing fertility, IVF, and other assisted reproductive technology services not just for couples within Davao and Mindanao but also to aspiring parents from as far as the Sulawesi region in Indonesia,” it added.
A 2011 study by market research firm Synovate stated “about 10 percent of Filipino couples are infertile.” This was cited by Merck Inc., the Philippine affiliate of the global pharmaceutical firm Merck KGaA, a global market leader in fertility.
Merck Inc. cited the same study as showing that the number was higher compared to about 8 percent infertility rate in the Philippines reported in 2004 by the United Nations Development Program.
“The World Health Organization defines infertility as failure to achieve a clinical pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse,” the Merck Inc., said, citing the same study. “Medical experts cite several factors leading to infertility, including heredity, lifestyle, age, and the overall health of a couple.”
The company said it has supported the IVF facility here and has been its partner. “Merck is happy to support IVF Davao, which we consider as a milestone in itself in terms of making the technology available to more Filipino families. This is in line with our company’s commitment to building families and enabling many couples to achieve their dreams of becoming parents,” said Henry Wilson, Managing Director and General Manager of Merck Inc.
The IVF Davao facility holds office and clinic at the ground floor of the Brokenshire Women’s Center building of the Brokenshire Hospital in Madapo Hills here.