Our baby miracle man

Dr Chang gives up delivery to concentrate on IVF

HE’S one of the incredible medical experts who has helped make miracle babies become a reality across North Queensland, and this special man plans on helping many more families to come.

After 36 years as a obstetrician, with 26 of those years spent in Townsville at the Mater Hospital, Dr Ron Chang (pictured) has decided to focus solely on IVF treatment.

The Queensland Fertility Group guru said he’d had an incredible career delivering babies, and estimated he’s probably assisted in more than 7500 births.

The 63-year-old said that he was looking forward to continuing to help couples going through IVF.

“I’d been doing IVF for the last 20 years and I’ve decided to give up being an obstetrician so I can focus on it more,” Dr Chang said.

“To be on call all the time as an obstetrician was quite a demand,” he said.

“As you get older, you don’t bounce back as well from having a disrupted night and you still have to work the next day.

“It’s just the nature of getting older, you don’t recover as well.”

Dr Chang said IVF could be a challenge for many couples as a successful pregnancy is far from guaranteed, though the reward for the lucky ones was worth it.

“It doesn’t work every time,” he said.

“Sometimes it can take a few years for it to happen. It’s very much a privilege to be part of that. It’s a special time.

“When they fall pregnant, you go through the pregnancy with them and you deliver the baby, it’s very special, it’s hard to describe. “I’m very privileged to be involved in their lives.” Dr Chang said IVF was more common now than 20 years ago, with a particular spike during Covid and further advancements in the field.

“Last year, there was a lot of people. They couldn’t travel and had to stay at home, so they re-evaluated their priorities and having children is very important to some people.

“There’s been some big changes, particularly with fertility preservation.

“If a woman with breast cancer has chemo it can affect the quality of the eggs, so they can’t have children after. We can now collect the eggs, they can have their treatment and we can put the embryos back in the woman.”

Dr Chang paid credit to his wife of 37 years, Lisa, who has supported him through his career.

As he slowly cuts back his time at work, Dr Chang planned to spend more time on his hobbies, including woodwork with his grandkids, cooking and taking care of his Bonsai collection.