00:02This little baby is this couple's long-awaited first child.
00:06After 12 years of marriage, 40-year-old Mrs. Zhu said she could never conceive naturally.
00:12She's used assisted reproduction before, but after three unsuccessful IUI treatments,
00:17she decided to give in vitro fertilization, or IVF, a go.
00:31The child is now one and a half years old and healthy, and Mrs. Zhu is going back for a
00:37second child.
00:38And she's not the only one.
00:40According to the latest statistics, the average age of mothers in Taiwan giving birth to the first child
00:46has climbed to 31 years old, and close to one in every three newborns were born to mothers age 35
00:53or older.
01:06Taiwan's birth rate hit a new low last year with just over 107,000 newborns, 20% fewer than the
01:13year before.
01:15With more couples delaying pregnancy and fewer wanting to have kids,
01:19the government now offers a one-time subsidy for IVF treatment,
01:23but only to marry couples with at least one Taiwanese spouse.
01:26Whether the subsidy bears fruit and is enough to help aspiring parents
01:31remains to be seen, as the program is still in its infancy.
01:35Andy Xue and Irene Lin for Taiwan Plus.
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