Dr Thu Mai has lived in the western suburbs of Melbourne for more than 40 years after her family came to Australia as refugees in the 80s. She is now a consulting obstetrician and gynaecologist with Monash IVF and is the only Vietnamese-speaking fertility specialist in Victoria, as she tells Matthew Sims.
How would you describe your connection to Maribyrnong and the west?
My family came to Australia as refugees in the early 80s from Vietnam when I was six and we have lived in the western suburbs of Melbourne for more than 40 years until now. I grew up locally around the Footscray and St Albans area. I did all my schooling in the western suburbs. I went to Footscray North Primary School and Marian College in West Sunshine, before attending Mac.Robertson Girls High School in my senior years. After graduating from medicine at Monash University, I returned to the west to work mainly at Western Health. After completing my specialist training in obstetrics and gynaecology at the Royal Women’s Hospital, Mercy Hospital for Women and at Sunshine Hospital, I worked as a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Sunshine Hospital and Werribee Mercy Hospital. I’m now consulting in private practice in Maribyrnong, but I travel all over the western suburbs to see patients. I joined Monash IVF over 10 years ago, and I’m now mainly based at the Monash IVF Sunshine clinic, helping women and couples achieve their dreams of becoming parents. I’m passionate about all aspects of fertility, including male infertility issues. I especially want to ensure that young women from all ethnic backgrounds are aware of and can readily access treatment options they require, including IVF, egg freezing and donor sperm. I’ve helped many couples and individuals in the west become parents and I’ve delivered quite a few of their babies over the years too!
What do you love about where you live?
I spent almost all of my life growing up and living in the west and now I’m working here locally as well. I feel a very special bond to this side of town having grown up here. I’ve witnessed all the suburbs grow and develop. I love the diverse multiculturalism that has transformed the western suburbs over the years, with wonderful ethnic cultures, shops and restaurants, the familiarity of the suburbs, the friendly people and the ethnic communities here. Where else would I rather be but the west? My brother is also a doctor practicing in the west as well.
How has your Vietnamese background informed your life and work?
There weren’t many ethnic kids at school back in the days of the early 80s, until at least the 90s where waves of immigrants from diverse ethnic backgrounds started arriving. However, my parents tried to keep our Vietnamese traditions and taught us our cultures and language at home. My siblings and I attended Vietnamese schools locally on the weekends. I’m glad I did because I can now write and converse in fluent Vietnamese. As an adult, my background has allowed me to provide healthcare to patients from a range of backgrounds. Being a migrant myself, I appreciate other cultures and their traditions, and I am acutely aware of the stigmas that unfortunately still exist when it comes to fertility treatment. Being aware of these challenges allows me to advocate on behalf of patients and help them navigate any obstacles they may face. As the only Vietnamese-speaking fertility specialist in Victoria, and probably in Australia, it also helps that I speak the language fluently as I can connect with not just my Vietnamese patients, but also their families and other Vietnamese-speaking doctors in the area.
Where is your favourite local place to spend time?
Highpoint Shopping Centre. I never get sick of Highpoint. I used to get taken to Highpoint by my parents every weekend growing up. Now I pop into Highpoint at least a few times a week for grocery shopping, clothes shopping and my children love to even just window shop or eat at the food courts. My children also love their weekly trip to the local Maribyrnong library, to browse through the books. As for myself, I love the cafes and restaurants in front of my clinic in the Edgewater Estate. But my favourite cafes and restaurants locally where I spend a lot of time are The Boathouse and Feekah in Moonee Ponds and Old Man Drew in Ascot Vale.
What have you loved most about your work?
I feel like I have been blessed to have a career where I can create lives and help bring lives into the world, help women and couples achieve their dreams of becoming parents and having a family. This is the most rewarding aspect of my career. I also feel very privileged that women, especially women of ethnic backgrounds, feel comfortable to consult with me about their general gynaecological issues which is quite a personal issue.
Tell us something people would be surprised to know about you.
When I’m not consulting, looking sophisticated and wearing my corporate attire, I’m a mother running around after two young kids in activewear. A lot of my patients don’t recognise me when they bump into me in the shopping centre. When I’m not in the rooms consulting or in the hospital performing surgery, egg pick-ups or doing embryo transfers, I’m a health fanatic. I cycle 20 kilometres a day, rain or shine.
