After 10 years of trying to conceive, Singaporean newscaster Glenda Chong is overjoyed to announce that she is expecting her first child at the age of 51. Chong, a news anchor for Mediacorp, and her lawyer husband, Justin Chan, shared the happy news through a video and written interviews published on October 5 with CNA Today. The couple will be welcoming a baby boy.
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Chong’s pregnancy comes after 10 cycles of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), a challenging process where eggs are extracted, fertilized with sperm, and then transferred back to the uterus. The journey was far from easy, with IVF success rates dropping significantly for women over 45. Despite the odds, Chong’s perseverance has paid off, though her pregnancy is considered high-risk. She is being closely monitored by her doctor and is under strict guidelines not to travel far from Singapore.
The couple, who married in 2014, had always wanted children and started trying naturally right after their wedding. Given her age at the time, Chong made lifestyle changes, cutting out alcohol and caffeine, exercising regularly, and even turning to traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture. When natural methods didn’t work, they began the long and emotionally draining journey of IVF.
Over the years, they visited six doctors, both locally and abroad, and endured heartbreaking failures, including an early miscarriage. As time went on, the number of eggs she could produce dwindled, leaving her emotionally devastated. However, despite the struggles and occasional friction in their relationship, they held on to hope.
In their 10th round of IVF, Chong finally got the news she had longed for. “Hope springs eternal,” she said. “And hope is a huge motivator for me.”
