Ariff bongso biography of michael

AsianScientist (Aug. 28, 2015) – In 1965, Singapore had a total fertility rate (TFR) of 4.66 children per woman and an average household size of about six, according to the Singapore Department of Statistics.

By the time Samuel Lee was born in 1983, however, the situation had changed drastically, with the TFR dropping to 1.61, below the generally-accepted replacement rate of 2.1.

But Mr Lee was no ordinary baby: he was Singapore’s—and Asia’s—first “test-tube baby”, brought into the world by a team led by the late S. S. Ratnam.

Since then, thousands of babies have been born in Singapore through assisted fertility techniques, with 1,158 in 2009 alone [the most recent publicly-available datum].

Although these numbers are not high enough to cause a discernible rise in birth rates, perhaps more importantly, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) has given many infertile couples a shot at parenthood.

Much of the credit for this should go to Ariff Bongso, professor of the depar