CHA Fertility Center (CHA IVF)—an unprecedented achievement by an extraordinary family legend.
CHA Obstetrics & Gynecology, the origin of CHA Medical Group, was founded in April 1960 by Dr. Gyeong-seop Cha.
In 1984, his son, Dr. Kwang Yul Cha, founded a new kind of medical center. Not a general medical facility, but a specialized center. It provided much needed women’s health services, covering obstetrics, gynecology and introduced the very latest reproductive medical practices and technologies. CHA Gangnam Medical Center was the first medical center in Seoul, Korea conceived wholly for the practice of one field—it was a groundbreaking first step on a road that would lead to change in global medicine.
For the past four decades, CHA Medical Group has been at the forefront of fertility medicine. Dr. Kwang Yul Cha provided a medical apparatus unique in Korea during the mid-20th century—a medical center that not only provided first-class patient care, but was also a vehicle for trailblazing fertility research. Featured in Time Magazine, Dr. Kwang Yul Cha was a pioneer in not only his medical specialty, but in medical center methodology. CHA Gangnam Medical Center was Korea’s first hospital dedicated to the study of in-vitro fertilization (CHA IVF) and was the first in Korea to successfully deliver a “test tube baby” via IVF in a private hospital. In 1998, CHA Fertility Center researchers were the first in the world to develop the oocyte cryopreservation (egg freezing) method of vitrification. In the following year, CHA Fertility Center became the first in the world to successfully deliver a baby using a thawed vitrified egg. Then in 2002, CHA opened the world’s first commercial egg bank in Los Angeles for women who needed to freeze their eggs.
Today, CHA Medical Group has expanded its reach considerably, opening CHA University School of Medicine, acquiring LA’s Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, establishing the world’s premier anti-aging and wellness center, and evolving into a world-class bio-medical research authority. CHA Medical Group not only has world-renowned medical centers throughout South Korea, but has gone on to open hospitals in the U.S. and Japan—the first Korean medical group to enter these two markets.
Dr. Kwang Yul Cha’s vision has expanded beyond physical, social, and cultural borders. From a single clinic in South Korea to a thriving international healthcare group, CHA Medical Group continues to inspire and serve every day.