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| Prof Dapo Ashiru |
In recent years several fertility experts and other
stakeholders have focused intensely on the issue of infertility. Infertility is
more critical because of the United Nation’s declaration that everyone has the
right to have a baby. In other words, having a baby should be by choice. Hence
everything must be done to get everyone access to fertility care.
Infertility
is the inability to get pregnant after a year of unprotected intercourse. About
10 per cent of couples in the United States are affected by it. Both men and
women can be infertile. According to the Centers for Disease Control, a
third of the time the diagnosis is due to female infertility, a third of the
time it is linked to male infertility, and the remaining cases of infertility
are due to a combination of factors from both partners. The cause is unknown
for approximately 20 per cent of couples. The reason is not determined
(unexplained infertility). Consequently, the WHO meeting has now made clear
definitions for male infertility and female infertility distinct from each
other.
An NGO, the Merck Foundation, under the leadership of its Director, Rasha
Kelej, collaborating with the African Fertility Society, has enabled us to
unravel through the various campaigns in Africa some of the consequences of
infertility on the continent. In Nairobi, a lady called Jaque got her two hands
amputated by her husband because she did not have a baby! She became famous
worldwide as one of the stigmas that come with infertility even when it is the
man’s fault in 50 per cent of the cases. It is why we need continuous education
on this subject that affect many homes and marriages.
There is a
worldwide emotional epidemic of infertility. As of today, 25 per cent of
couples are infertile. Even in India which has severe overpopulation, the most
common reason for a visit to the doctor is infertility.
In
Nigeria, infertility which used to be a small area of gynecology practice, has
now become a vast discipline with several doctors devoting their clinics solely
to it.
During the
recent conference of the African Fertility Society and the International
Federation of Fertility Societies in Kampala Uganda, held on March 1, 2018, the
number of IVF clinics in Nigeria was revealed to be close to 70. The number of
IVF clinics in Africa is near 160, and in comparison today the number of
clinics in Chicago city alone is over 80! It is clear that Nigeria is now
recognised worldwide as a part of ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology)
providers. We can confidently say today that virtually 95 per cent of IVF cases
are treated in Nigeria by Nigerians.
Thirty
years ago, more than 80 per cent of complicated cases of IVF in Nigeria
had treatment abroad. These practitioners, under the monitoring guidelines by
the Association of Fertility and Reproductive Health in Nigeria and The
African Fertility Society, have saved the country and Africa several resources
in foreign exchange being spent previously on overseas medical treatment for
infertility. It is noteworthy that many of the African countries still
cannot provide ART services, however.
It is now
well known that human ability to get pregnant decreases with age, which
explains why only one per cent of teenagers are infertile while a vast majority
of infertile couples are in their 30s. It is well documented that from our teen
years when the last thing we want is a child, to our mid-thirties when we are
finally secure enough to start our family, our ability to conceive decreases
almost by 25 per cent.
Research
shows that in the past 30 years, infertility has increased and those over the
age of 30 have the most problems.
If you are
in your 30s and have been working to establish yourself in your profession,
please take note. In planning to start a family in a few years, you
should realise that there is a 25 per cent chance you will not be able to do so
without medical intervention. It is for this reason that the definition of
infertility is made to include a person of age 35 years who has not been able
to achieve pregnancy within six months of attempt at conception.
Other factors that may make it difficult for you to get pregnant include
abnormal organs, immunological factors and another malfunctioning of the body
system. The dramatic increases in infertility over the last 30 years are due to
various factors. They include increases in sexually transmitted diseases,
environmental toxins in our food – such as heavy metals in fish, environmental
pollution particularly in the oil-producing geographical zones, declining sperm
counts from absorption of toxic substances and even the increased tension and
anxiety of the modern life.
In all
other animals except humans, the desire to have sexual intercourse is timed to
correspond precisely to that moment when the female is ovulating or producing
eggs for fertilisation. Take for instance a dog or a rabbit. Once the woman is
ovulating, she seeks out the male, and, after intercourse, the female is
usually pregnant with multiple pregnancies. Humans, however, desire to have sex
at any time regardless of whether there is an egg that can be fertilised in the
woman and it makes us reproductively more inefficient than other animals.
We know
that in all species, there is a very short window; in fact, a matter of days
during each month that the female is fertile and can get pregnant with
intercourse. The timing of sex is therefore crucial if a species is to have an
efficient and high fertility rate.
source: the punchonline
