Vietnamese couple becomes parents for first time in their 50s   Tran Thi Phuc holds her first daughter, Tuong Vy, alongside her husband, Nguyen Van Manh, at the Hospital of Posts and Telecoms in Hanoi in June 2016 in this photo provided by the infirmary. A small family of a Vietnamese married couple has been filled with laughter since the day they gave birth to their first child in their 50s. Tran Thi Phuc, 53, and her husband, Nguyen Van Manh, 54, gave birth to their first daughter, Tuong Vy, about five months ago. The couple starts their normal days with Manh going to work till late in the evening while Phuc stays home and looks after their little baby. Despite having her hands full all day, joy can always be seen on Phuc’s face as she is finally able to know what it is like to be a mother after many years of hopelessness. Tying the knot in 2004 when Phuc was 41 and her husband 42, the pair experienced three miscarriages, resulting in them seeking for help at the Hospital of Posts and Telecoms in the Vietnamese capital in 2006. “I could not conceive even though doctors stated that my health was normal. I later decided to register for in vitro fertilization [IVF] at the infirmary,” Phuc recounted. Due to the lack of financial capacity, the woman was only able to undergo the IVF process twice in 10 years, both of which did not succeed. “I was frustrated, disappointed, and later became desperate as I was getting older. I was almost fixated on the thought that we were not blessed with a child in this life,” Phuc stated. “Thanks to the encouragement of my husband, we were about to get an adoption before the miracle finally occurred,” she continued. According to Nguyen Thi Nha, an obstetrician at the hospital, she never forgets the day Phuc first came to the facility as she was much older than the average age of other mothers who sought help there. Despite their tough living conditions, Phuc and her husband were always lively and full of optimism, Nha stated. God had answered the couple’s prayers as doctors informed that she had conceived, the doctor continued. She added that Phuc was healthy during her pregnancy and gave birth to Vy, weighing 2.7 kilograms, in early 2016. A special case Phuc’s story is rather special not only at the hospital but also across the country, as she is one of the oldest mothers who have been pregnant and given birth to their first babies, Nha said. “The couple was extremely lucky as we had too little hope for them after encountering countless setbacks,” she said. The family was invited back to the hospital earlier this week to share their stories with other infertile couples as well as being reunited with the doctors who helped them. Before leaving, the couple whispered to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters that they have not paid all the loans taken out to afford the IVF process. They will have to work much harder, the pair said, before adding that things would be fine with the precious daughter by their side. TUOI TRE NEWS