At 0:00 on the Year of the Blue Dragon, 'Ahongi's' Strong Cry... Son of a Couple Struggling with Infertility After 12 Years of Marriage

Cesarean Delivery at Gangnam Cha Hospital at 00:00
Pregnancy via IVF... "Support for Infertile Couples"

As the bell tolls to welcome the Year of the Dragon in 2024, the first baby of the year let out a strong first cry.

At 12:00 AM on the 1st, the first child of mother Im Ah-yeon (38) and father Lee Joo-hong (44) was born at Gangnam Cha Women’s Hospital in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The couple welcomed a healthy son weighing 3.15 kg via cesarean section. The baby’s nickname was "Ah-hong-i," derived by taking one syllable from each of the parents’ names.

On New Year's Day 2024, Ahong (fetal name, male), born to father Lee Juhong and mother Im Ayeon at Gangnam Cha Women's Hospital in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, is held in his father's arms.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Especially, the Im couple was even more moved to welcome their first child as the first baby of the new year after overcoming infertility following 12 years of marriage. Although they had planned to have children early in their marriage, their overseas life delayed this, and it was only last year at the Cha Women’s Medical Research Institute Seoul Station in Jung-gu, Seoul, that they conceived through their first attempt at in vitro fertilization.

Ah-hong-i’s mother, Im, said, "We got married in June 2012, and having Ah-hong-i through IVF and delivering him healthily makes this even more special," adding, "I sincerely support many infertile couples in our country." Father Lee said, "I hope the world becomes a little warmer because of Ah-hong-i," and expressed his wish for "greater national attention and policy support for couples struggling with infertility."

Dr. Cha Dong-hyun, the attending physician at Gangnam Cha Women’s Hospital, said, "I am happy that both mother and baby are healthy," and added, "I hope the birth of the first baby on the first day of the new year becomes a time to share the joy of childbirth and the preciousness of life."

Meanwhile, the total fertility rate in South Korea in 2022 was only 0.78 children per woman. This is the second lowest in the world, just above Hong Kong. Recently, Statistics Korea projected that the total fertility rate in 2024 will drop to 0.68, breaking below the 0.7 mark.

Foreign media are also paying attention to South Korea’s low birthrate crisis. In December last year, the New York Times (NYT) warned that South Korea’s low birthrate could lead to national extinction, while CNN expressed concern that "population arithmetic could become South Korea’s greatest enemy," noting that low birthrates may weaken national defense capabilities. The government has set this year’s budget to overcome the low birthrate at 17.59 trillion won, a 25% increase from last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.