Regulating IVF Treatement In Nigeria

In Vitro Fertilisation
(IVF) is increasingly becoming a method of bringing joy  and laughter  to fertility  challenged  couples all over the world. According to recent reports over one million babies  have been conceived  through the test-tube method globally with 40,000 taking  place in Nigeria.
Many marriages which had hitherto hit the rocks in Nigeria due to the problem  of childlessness  have been  restored. So, it’s all kudos  to the technology and the experts who have been involved in the service, particularly in Nigeria.
However, for us to continue to enjoy the benefits of the life  giving technology, it is important, doctors and other stakeholders look into  some disturbing practices  that have crept into the scene. There seems to be no regulatory measures concerning the practice as a result of which incompetent  and unethical methods are now the order of the day.
I recently heard a story of how a donor egg was used for a couple without their consent. Fortunately, the  woman  had a little knowledge of IVF  procedure and was able to detect that something was wrong. She knew  that for  an embryo to be  produced,  a woman’s egg should be collected and fertilized with a man’s sperm. But in  their own case, her husband ‘s sperm  was collected  after which she  was asked to come to the clinic  for embryo  transfer. She  was surprised  and wanted  to know how the embryo came about  without  her egg.  What followed  was accusations and  counter accusations between the couple, the doctor and his staff which eventually ended at the police  station.
A  lot of other cases of unethical practices abroad.
Practitioners do all kinds of things to convince couples that they are the best and live them to their clinics, just to make money.
In 2012, the Association for Fertility and Reproductive Health (AFRH) of Nigeria, approved minimum standards for clinics  offerings Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)/IVF in Nigeria.
The guidelines which  focused  on the type of personnel that can operate in an IVF Clinic,  the qualification, and  experience  necessary  for such  clinic  operations also outlined the number of embryos that can be transferred in a treatment  cycle. It recommended a maximum of two embryos  for patients  less than 30 years old, three for 31-38 years old,  and not more than four for those above 38 years. It also required  and mandated all IVF  centres to keep records of procedures  and have informed consent.
Unfortunately, accounts of couples who have undergone IVF treatment show  that  what obtains in  many clinics  is far from the recommendation of AFRH. In  some cases, like the one I narrated  earlier, the details  of the procedure are known only to  the doctor.  Capitalising on the ignorance  of some couples  and their desperation to have their own children, the doctors manipulate the  procedure, throwing  all ethical guideline over  board to achieve  results. Many of them insert  up to seven  fertitilised eggs  instead of the recommended  numbers inspite of the dangers it poses  to the  mother and the baby.
What about quacks who have  hijacked the technology. At a  public  event  recently, the Chief Medical Director, The  Bridge  Clinic, Dr Richard Ajayi, lamented that more than 60 per cent of people offering IVF service  in the country do not  have the facilities and qualified personnel  for it, but have continued to do so  in order   get money from patients.
He said  that due to the perceived financial benefits and patronage, doctors  and health  workers  who know  little or nothing about IVF have continued  to take advantage  of couples in need  by offering services they lack the right infrastructure to offer.
We all  know  that IVF treatment is very expensive. Infact to go through one treatment cycle, some couples have to sell their  properties  or borrow  money from different  sources. It will  therefore, be intensity of those in authority to allow  these couples  to be   ripped off   by  doctors,  both the  qualified  and unqualified  ones. The procedure for IVF and the cost should  be standardized.
Strict  regulation and monitoring of IVF  activities in  the country is the only way to protect  the patient and eliminate quacks  from eh system. It will also serve as a  check for medical  practitioners who have been making false claims  to draw  more patients. As Professor  Osato  Giwa-Osagie, co-pioneer of IVF in Nigeria advised, “we  must regulate  how many   embryos  should be  transferred. We  must determine what  qualifies  you to  operate  an IVF clinic and what should be the qualification of doctors who offer infertility treatment”.
In  addition; couples  opting for IVF should be educated  properly on the procedures for the  treatment. Ignorance,  can be  very dangerous  to the  mother, the baby and  can lead to continuous waste of money  and emotional trauma.

Calista Ezeaku