President Rosen Plevneliev today awarded the "Stara Planina" order first degree to Assoc. Dr. Atanas Shterev - the father of the in vitro method in Bulgaria. The reason for awarding Prof. Shterev is his merits in the field of reproductive medicine and the development of modern obstetrics and gynecology, as well as his 70th birthday. Thanks to Dr. Shterev's innovation, every year 5% of children in Bulgaria are conceived with the help of assisted reproduction.
27 years have passed since the birth of the first babies conceived after in vitro procedures in Bulgaria. This success is also due to the fruitful joint work of Associate Professor Shterev with biologist Prof. Iliya Vatev and obstetrician-gynecologists Dr. Yosif Dimitrov, Dr. Valentin Lachev, Dr. Vladimir Yankov and others.
In addition to introducing in vitro procedures in the country, Assoc. Dr. Atanas Shterev together with Dr. Valentina Mazneikova and Assoc. Dr. Violeta Dimitrova introduced ultrasound diagnostics in obstetrics and gynecology in our country.
Approximately 80% of the teams performing modern assisted reproductive technologies in our country were personally trained by Prof. Shterev, and the rest of the reproductive specialists were trained by his students.
Assoc. Shterev is the founder of the most established specialized center for women's and family he alth in the country. Over the past 27 years, the team of the medical facility has helped thousands of couples feel the joy of parenthood.
