The right to proactive reproduction of single women
From October 1, 2025, single women in Vietnam will officially have access to assisted reproductive techniques such as egg freezing and in vitro fertilization (IVF) if they have personal needs and wishes.
This is an important new point stipulated in Decree 207 of the Government, effective from October 1, marking a step forward in expanding and protecting the reproductive rights of single women.
In fact, data shows that many women today have changed their thinking about marriage. Among them, there are women who want to extend their single life, delay marriage, and even want to be single mothers.
According to data published by the General Statistics Office, over the past three decades, Vietnam has witnessed a clear change in marriage trends and birth rates.
Marriage age is increasing, while the marriage rate tends to decrease, causing the birth rate to also increase by half in the past 30 years.
In the period of 1989-2023, the average age of first marriage for men was 24.4 and for women was 23.2 but increased to 29.3 for men and 25.1 for women in 2023.
The rate of single people is also on the rise, from 6% in 2004 to 10% in 2019.
These figures reflect changes in the concept of life, personal orientation and choice to start a family of people, especially young people, in the context of an increasingly modern and volatile society.
Rights to be a mother without marriage
Right after Decree 207 was issued, social networks became bustling with many opinions.
Many women expressed their agreement and strong support for the new regulation, considering this a positive step forward in ensuring women's right to choose and be proactive in reproductive issues.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Du (in Hanoi, character name has been changed) shared with reporters: "I think it is the right of everyone, the need of women to have a baby without having to get married. I think we need to respect the wishes of each individual. This is a new opportunity for women to be more proactive in their life plans, including reproduction.
Talking to Lao Dong reporter, Ms. Hoang Tham (in Xa Dan, Hanoi, character name has been changed) shared: "Allowing single women to have more opportunities to become mothers like that is really fun. But I will consider many more factors. Among them, being a single mother is quite a difficult journey. In addition, asking for sperm in the bank (unknown identity of the person giving sperm) will make the woman feel a certain amount of luck".
Ms. Tham is currently holding eggs, but still hopes to wait for the man she loves, then discuss having children.
Many opinions on social networks expressed: "Young women today have many strong friends. They have been in place for this decree for a few years because they are self-sufficient in their lives; Women themselves also want to have a happy husband to have children, love each other, if they cannot find a suitable piece, having children and loving them is good enough...
However, the decision to do IVF still makes many people wonder and worry. This is not only a biological journey but also a challenging psychological, financial and social journey.
The first obstacle is the financial burden. The second worry comes from social pressure. Many women are afraid that their children will grow up in the face of public prejudice.
mentally, raising children alone also makes many people worry about the balance between work, personal life and motherhood responsibilities.
In addition, psychological preparation for children is also an issue that many women raise to raise their children in a loving, confident environment and normalize being born from a brave decision of the mother.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, IVF techniques have been deployed in Vietnam since 1998 and have so far helped more than 150,000 babies. The country currently has over 50 assisted reproductive facilities, owns and operates many advanced techniques in the world, with the success rate of IVF methods increasingly high, reaching 70%.
Currently, some popular methods of assisted reproduction include: pumping sperm into the uterine cavity (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), injecting sperm into the collapsed soybean (ICSI), supporting emulsion ( human Emulsion ( human Emulsion), maturing young eggs (IVM) ...
