• .TCM doctor has 40 years’ experience, is well-known in central China
• .Treatments for infertility include acupuncture, medicine to ‘adjust organs’

A childless couple in China were so happy to have finally conceived after eight years of trying that they knelt weeping in thanks before the traditional Chinese medicine doctor who helped them. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/Douyin

A video clip of a woman in China crying and kneeling in thanks before a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) doctor who cured her infertility has trended on mainland social media.

The woman, from the central province of Henan, had been trying for a baby over eight years of marriage and was overcome with emotion when she learned she was pregnant.

Feelings of joy and relief made her drop to her knees to express her gratitude to Dr Song Zhaopu, according to a viral video, the news outlet Da Can Kao reported.

Song is well known in Ruzhou in Henan and has more than 40 years’ experience as a TCM practitioner.

Song Zhaopu, the doctor who helped the couple conceive, said he was delighted for them. Photo: Weibo

“No, no, please do not do that,” a smiling Song says in the video to the woman as he helps her up.

“You should be happy. Don’t cry,” he tells her.

The woman’s husband also kneels and says: “Doctor, this is the biggest happiness for our family,” while her mother expresses extreme delight at the news.

“I am delighted, too. As a doctor, my major joys come from the trust of patients and their recovery from illness,” says Song.

It is not clear how long he had been treating the woman, or if her husband had also received therapy.

Luo Shaobo, a TCM doctor at Guang’anmen Hospital in Beijing, wrote on Baidu.com that the TCM therapies for infertility usually include acupuncture, moxibustion, and medicine to adjust the functions of various organs.

China’s birth rate has been on the decline for seven years.

In 2017, the number of newborn babies in the country was 17.23 million, which dropped to nine million in 2023, national statistics showed.

About one in eight Chinese couples have reproductive problems, according to figures released in 2017.

Experts say the current infertility rate is much higher than that of three to four decades ago due to environmental issues, unhealthy lifestyles, life pressure, and a higher occurrence of sexually transmitted diseases.

While young people are increasingly unwilling to have babies, many families still follow the traditional Chinese belief that having children is essential.