by Trung Hieu and Van Dat
Dead man fathers twins
Twins boys were recently born by means of in vitro fertilization, using the sperm of a man who died in a traffic accident, Doctor Le Van Ve, director of the Ha Noi Hospital of Fertility, told a recent seminar in Ha Noi.
Four years ago, the husband of Hoang Thi Kim Dung was hit by a train and died.
When Dung recovered from the shock, she contacted a fertility doctor.
Dr Ve helped take sperms from the dead, which were then frozen at the subzero temperature of -196oC. Three years later, in March 2013, Dung came to the hospital to undergo the in vitro fertilization procedure.
She ended up conceiving twin boys, who were born on 9 December.
This is an unprecedented achievement in the field of fertility in Viet Nam, agreed the experts at the seminar.
“I’ve never seen such an exceptional case of in vitro fertilization,” said Professor Thomas D’Hooghe, who has worked in the hospital of the University of Leuven, Belgium, since 1984.
Take it all off!
“Hot girls and boys”, as the saying goes in Viet Nam, are stripping off their clothes after seeing a video clip that has gone viral on the internet.
Many of these girls, from Ha Noi, Vinh Phuc, Vung Tau, Nam Dinh, Gia Lai, Nghe An and Nha Trang, said that after viewing the video titled Anh khong doi qua (I will not reclaim presents) they wanted to earn a bit of fame.
With already 1 million hits, the video features two young Vietnamese nicknamed Karik and OnlyC rapping as lyrics are shown in the background. The rap is about a girl who takes off her clothes to give to her boyfriend after she breaks up with him.
Just two weeks after the first video was uploaded, several others like it were launched.
Some of the girls have been stopped by police for stripping in public places, causing an outcry among some citizens, who said the girls had violated the country’s customs.
Many viewers of the video said the girls in the clip just wanted to show off their bodies in hopes of getting fame in the fastest way possible.
The lament of the virgins
Girls in Seu Village in Ha Noi’s My Duc District are especially concerned about their reputation and its repercussions on their families. Some would say to the point of obsession.
Their attitude, however, is nothing new, as it is part of a longstanding tradition reflected in the nickname of the village given by a King of Viet Nam, Ly Thanh Tong.
He coined the name Virgin Village after hearing about the life story of the beautiful widow Tran Thi Thanh who had rejected all suitors after her husband’s death and had brought up her son, who later became a talented general.
Since that time, the girls in the village have felt the need to live up to the village’s name.
According to another informal “rule” in the village, every virgin girl once had to contribute 400 bricks to the community for road-building just before getting married.
Do Thi Loan, 92, told VnExpress.net that when this “rule” was made, the village was isolated and most people liked to stay at home.
Later, when many roads had been built, girls who were about to marry were asked to contribute only 200 bricks, she said.
The “rule”, according to Loan, ended in 1954, as all of the necessary roads had been completed by then.
However, several war widows decided to follow the earlier tradition of Thanh and chose not to re-marry as a way to respect their ancestors and deceased husbands.
As for the virgin girls, some of the roads built with their bricks are now in bad shape, and some have been paved with asphalt.
Although they no longer need to contribute bricks or any other product, girls in the village are still serious about maintaining their virginity because of the longheld tradition, community elders say. — VNS
Đăng ký: VietNam News
