Former Mediacorp Actress Sora Ma Expecting Her First Child Though IVF

By
Kimi Tan
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If you didn’t take Biology in secondary school, there’s a possibility you don’t know what IVF is.

IVF stands for in vitro fertilisation or intravenous fluids.

Intravenous fluids are liquids injected into a vein to prevent or treat dehydration, but that’s not the IVF we’re talking about today.

In Vitro Fertilisation

The IVF referred to in this article is in vitro fertilisation, which is basically making a test tube baby.

No, you can’t make a test tube baby in your average secondary school lab.

In IVF, an egg is fertilised by injecting a single sperm into the egg or by mixing the egg with sperm in a petri dish. The fertilised egg, called an embryo, will then be transferred into the uterus.

IVF allows women who are past their reproductive years, have infertile partners, have idiopathic female-fertility issues, or have reached menopause, to become pregnant.

The success rate of IVF generally varies but it’s about 70% for women in Singapore. As women grow older, the success rate also drops.

It is believed that globally, over 10 million children have been born as a result of assisted reproductive technologies such as IVF.

Former Mediacorp Actress Sora Ma is an IVF Mum

Just a few weeks ago, during Chinese New Year, Malaysian actress Sora Ma announced that she’s expecting her first child with her Singaporean businessman husband, known only as Mr R.

When the 39-year-old shared the news through her Instagram, she was already more than three months pregnant.

She is due to give birth in August this year, making her baby a Dragon baby.

Three weeks later, on 5 March, she revealed on Instagram that her baby was actually conceived through IVF.

“This is the bravest thing I have ever done for myself. I’ve been preparing for a while and I’ve finally decided to share. I’m an IVF mum,” she said.

“This is not something particularly easy but I’m still very thankful to my doctor and the medical team, my two best friends and the father of my child. Last but not least, I shall not forget to thank myself for my bravery.

“To all the strong women facing pregnancy difficulties, you’re not alone.”

According to the actress, she and her husband have been wanting a child since their marriage in 2022.

The couple went to see a doctor in June and July last year and underwent a series of fertility tests.

She shared that although the doctor said the two should not have any problems with conceiving naturally, they were advised to get medical aid as she was already 39 at the time and her husband was pushing 50.

In an Instagram post, she shared videos of her self-administrating her daily IVF injections.

Image: @Instagram (@soramayx)

These IVF injections are fertility medications, most likely for ovarian stimulation. The hormones in most common IVF medications are actually produced naturally in the body, the medication simply boosts the natural levels of these hormones to encourage more eggs to develop.

If you took – and listened – in your secondary school Bio classes, you’ll be familiar with these two hormones that are common in such IVF injections: follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinising hormone (LH).

These help a woman’s body produce eggs it has created naturally, before they are removed during egg collection for scientists to culture them with sperm.

The actress decided to share her experience and journey with IVF as “the women who go through this sometimes feel very lonely emotionally.”

She shared that despite being “fully prepared mentally and physically”, she “still broke down once during this journey”.

“I wish to tell all those who are trying to conceive, pregnant, were pregnant before, or all the mummies out there, thank you for your hard work!”

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Kimi Tan