In the early 1990s, Singaporean couple Benson and Vivien Foong decided to seek medical assistance because they’d been unable to conceive a child during the first eight years of their marriage.
They spent another year “trying methods like taking fertility pills, carefully timing sex and artificial insemination.” But nothing worked.
Finally, as a last resort, they turned to IVF (in vitro fertilization).
The treatment was successful, allowing the Foongs to have their first child, a baby girl.
As “a tribute to the procedure, which was a miracle to them,” the couple decided to incorporate the letter sequence I-V-F into their daughter’s name, Ivfen (pronounced iev-fern).
Two years later, the Foongs welcomed a set of twins, one boy and one girl, again with the help of IVF.
They named their son Ivfeno (pronounced iev-fern-o) and their second daughter Ivfy (pronounced iev-fee).
Source: Teng, Amelia. “Ivfen, Ivfeno, and Ivfy: Why the names of 3 Singaporean siblings begin with the letters IVF.” Straits Times 21 Jul. 2018.
Image: Adapted from ICSI intracytoplasmic sperm injection (public domain)
