"Mrs. Ahn" had known she was infertile for five years before she learned that the government provides financial support for test-tube baby procedures (in vitro fertilization, or IVF) during her visit to a local public health center.

"IVF costs around W3 million (US$1=W936) per case, but I heard that the government covers around half of that so I applied," Ahn said. The effort was a success, and Ahn and her husband are expecting twins this spring.

Quadruplets recently born after IVF at Chungnam National University Hospital/Yonhap

Of the seven infertile couples who received government IVF support through the public health center of Inje County, Gangwon Province, four were successful in becoming pregnant and two had twins.

Last year the Ministry of Health and Welfare began offering financial support for IVF to infertile couples. The ministry's intentions were carefully calculated.

When you understand how IVF works, you can understand the government backing. After the ovum is fertilized with surgically-obtained sperm, the fertilized eggs are implanted into the mother's uterus. Not every egg will live, so in order to ensure success three to five fertilized eggs are implanted at once. If two of those eggs prevail, the result is twins. While the chance of twins through natural fertilization is about one to five out of a hundred, the chance of twins through IVF is about three out of 10, or 30 percent. It's a good way to raise the birth rate.

In 2006, 14,262 couples opted for IVF with government support. Of those, 40 percent, or 5,665, were successful. If 30 percent of those couples have twins, this year will see 6,200 new babies from those parents. According to the ministry, the number of test tube pregnancies increased by 100 percent in 2006, so the number of newborn twins should double this year.

This year, the government will provide IVF support to 12,000 infertile couples. Applications are available Monday from local public health centers. Married women younger than 45 who have been diagnosed infertile are eligible. The monthly income of the family of two must not exceed W4.3527 million. Couples are eligible for IVF support up to two times, at W1.5 million each time.

(englishnews@chosun.com )