Park Koon ♥ Han Young Open Up About Stopping IVF After 24 Egg Retrievals and 7 Transfers in 2 Years

Singer Park Koon and his wife Han Young revealed that they have stopped their IVF (in vitro fertilization) treatments after two years of trying in secret.

On the May 26 broadcast of SBS's 'You're My Destiny,' Park Koon and Han Young made an appearance to share their recent updates after a long time.

During the episode, Park Koon opened up to Han Young, saying, "We didn't tell anyone we were doing IVF. It must have been so hard for you to go through that in secret. You barely eat and you work out so hard, but your face got bloated because of the hormonal changes from the IVF." He thus revealed that the couple had been undergoing IVF treatments in hopes of having a child.

In response, Han Young confessed, "I gained weight and my face bloated [because of the IVF]. We did it every single month for two consecutive years. I had consecutive egg retrievals and quite a few embryo transfers. Doing it non-stop for two years took a massive toll on my body."

Over the past two years, the couple went through 24 egg retrievals and 7 embryo transfer attempts. As a result, Han Young's body was much more swollen than before. Park Koon expressed his heartache, saying, "My wife struggled so much. When she appeared on home shopping channels, people would look at her swollen body and think she wasn't taking care of herself. That was so hard for her, especially since she couldn't tell anyone [that she was undergoing IVF]."

Park Koon explained the pain his wife had to endure, saying, "Aside from the hormonal changes, she also had to get injections to lower her immunity to increase the chances of success. It literally wipes out the immunity you already have, which makes it incredibly difficult." He shared his inner thoughts, adding, "I felt that if she had just told the people around us that she was doing IVF, it might have been less difficult. I wondered why she chose not to say anything and suffered all by herself."

Han Young explained her reason for keeping it a secret, saying, "I still wouldn't be able to talk about it even now. I know people around us would mean well, but receiving comfort and pity for something like this didn't feel good to me."

Han Young expressed regret for being sensitive and irritable during the IVF process. On the other hand, Park Koon apologized for not being able to take better care of her, saying, "When you were struggling, I should have been more considerate of you and accepted everything, even if you were sensitive. But because I was so busy running around, I feel like I couldn't do that, and I'm so sorry."

The couple then shared that they have stopped the IVF treatments. Han Young said, "I feel like I've done enough. I stopped when I reached my limit and realized I couldn't go on anymore." She then told her husband, "Let's just live happily, the two of us."

Park Koon expressed his deep gratitude to Han Young for enduring the grueling process, saying, "I was so grateful to my wife. Since I don't have any family of my own, she was the first to suggest doing IVF, saying she wanted to create a family that shares my blood. I am so thankful for that heart." He continued, "Because she was struggling so much, I told her, 'It's okay now, let's stop.' I told her that if Samsin Halmoni (the childbirth goddess) blesses us with a precious life, we will raise them well, but if not, we can just live happily as we are." 

(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)