The worlds first test-tube baby delivered her own child naturally on the 13th of the month, marking a global first. Now, Taiwan can also lay claim to a test-tube grandbaby. Doctors believe that the majority of test-tube babies will not have fertility issues to contend with.

Taiwans – and Asias – first test-tube baby, surnamed Zhang, was born in April of 1985. This year marks the twenty-second anniversary of that event, and the child is now a junior in college. Dr. Zhang Shengping of Taipei Veterans General Hospital Department of Reproductive Endocrinology, who assisted with the conception, says that the nations second test-tube baby was a girl, who is currently studying abroad.

Taipei Medical University president and infertility specialist Tseng Chi-juei was part of the team that worked on the first test-tube baby two decades ago at Veterans General Hospital. Tseng says that one out of every seven to ten couples in Taiwan is infertile. In his practice, some 40 percent of the women who come to him for assistance are over 40 years of age. While Taiwans success rate with infertility cases is about 35 percent overall, the numbers tend to be lower when a woman passes her 40th birthday.

Can aging eggs be revitalized? Tseng has been using a process of granulocytic transfer into autologous oocytes （MIT）, which helps to "recharge the batteries" of the eggs from women over 40. Tzeng explains that mitochondria are like the "starter battery" of the cell, and after being out of use for several decades, their DNA tends to mutate, causing a gradual loss of "power" to the "battery." MIT selects the relatively young eggs from a womans ovaries and extracts the granulocytic material, transferring it to relatively old eggs improving the chances of an older woman to become pregnant.