At the car park on the way to the hospital’s lobby, I saw a Malay girl bringing some fanciful balloons as if she was going to a party or some celebration.
I found out later she is the sister of the happy couple, Faizal Harris Mohamad Kamal and Norzainab Paee, who had given birth to a pair of twin girls, conceived via the In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) technique on Merdeka Day.
The proud father informed me that Dato’ Dr Colin Lee had facilitated in the early stages of his wife’s pregnancy.
I had interviewed Dr Lee in the mid-90s, who was gaining fame as gynaecologist and obstretrician in helping childless couples to conceive using IVF when I was a journalist with the New Straits Times (NST).
He founded the Damansara Fertility Centre Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Damansara Women’s Specialist Centre Sdn Bhd, which in turn is 100% owned by TMC Life Sciences.
Despite the disposal of his shares in TMC Life Sciences August last year and subsequent resignation as managing director in this public-listed company on 31 August 2010, I was told Dr Lee only left the outfit two months ago.
He is now with Alpha International Fertility Centre and Women Specialist, which is also in Kota Damansara.
Back to the twins, Kayla Fara and Kaysha Zara, weighing 2.35 kg and 1.59 kg respectively, I was told it is not uncommon for their weights to be different.
They were delivered via Caesaran by Dr Leong Wai Yew.
Faizal said they were two weeks overdue and showed no signs of contraction.
The couple, both 38, had decided on 31 August to bring them into the world taking into cognizance the significance of it being the 54th Merdeka Day and the second day of the Hari Raya celebration.
This is their third attempt to have babies after 11 years of marriage. As I chatted with Faizal, I discovered that he was an ex-NST staff in the information technology department.
The other mother who delivered a Merdeka baby, Nicholas Yeow Tze E weighing 3.87 kg, was Agnes Yap Voon Kean from Perlis (pic). It is the first born son for the couple.
Both mothers and their babies received hampers from TMC.
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