Addressing Infertility As A Social Problem

Naturally, an adult fe
male of reproductive age who indulges in regular unprotected sexual intercourse, envisages conception.  It therefore amounts to a malaise when the reproductive system fails to conceive inspite of the attempt to have one.
While it is not in doubt that conception is divinely spurred, it must be cleared  that most people have the strong desire to conceive and have their children at certain point in their life time even though nature’s provision overrides individual’s interest afterall.
This strong desire has propelled many to seek for intervention even at wrong corners all in a bid to have their babies as at when desired.  Perhaps, to be able to train them when they are still strong enough to do so.
However, understanding what defines normal fertility is crucial to helping a person or couple know at what point it is imperative to seek help and where.
It is quite common in recent time in our society to see many trado-medical practitioners pose as infertility experts.  This is not unconnected with the rising spate of infertility among couples more than ever.
With virtually every homeopathic doctor in Nigeria claiming to have what it takes to combat this social menace tagged infertility, one still wonders why not much impact has been made and infertility cases still continue to wreck havoc among couples and families.
It is possible that the patronage of the local medicine by victims of infertility is simply due to the low cost of the treatment, which cannot be offered by the orthodox hospitals.  However, how much of the cases had been solved through the local medicine remains a question not many would want to answer.
A Consultant Gynecologist, Dr Philip Miebaka Astrongly believes that the orthodox medicine definitely has a solution to the challenge of infertility.  As he notes that infertility was fast becoming a serious family problem in the country, Dr Miebaka highlights the imperativeness of Invitro Fertilisation (IVF) facility to prevent risks due to late conception.  For him, it is important that couples with infertility challenges seek the help of medical fertility experts for early intervention.
According to Dr Miebaka, invitro fertilization, which is the fertilization of the ovum by mixing it with a sperm in a laboratory, after which the fertilised egg is implanted in the uterus to continue normal development, remains an advanced infertility treatment that has been very helpful to many couples in overcoming their infertility challenges.
But, the Gynaecologist regrets that ignorance and religion have remained factors militating against couples’ self presentation to medical fertility experts for checks and possible solution.  According to him, a lot of couples do not go for medical help early enough in this aspect of family problem. They would rather wait till their 40s and even later before contemplating any medical help, hence making treatment difficult,  a case which would have been best handled at 20s and 30s.
Aside considering medical help as a last option, Dr Miebaka is still worried that such couples still conflict their religious believes with medical advice, a situation which further heightens his fears that infertility would soon become an epidemic in our part of the world.
At this point, the writer corroborates the feelings of the gynaecological expert in considering the challenges of infertility as a social problem that only a partnership with the government and the medical health fertility experts can have an answer to.
With invitro fertilisation as a possible solution to infertility, it becomes unfair to leave the cost of procurement at the reach of only the rich in the society, when both the poor and the rich face the same challenge.
The monster painted by socio-economic, religious, environmental and lifestyle factors in helping infertility problem thrive, can only be addressed if the government and all concerned would view infertility as a social problem.  Only then can we see the need to subsidise the cost of its treatment and make the treatment common and available to all and sundry.
I believe that carrying out sensitisation workshops will also help to work on the psyche of the individuals towards their attitudes to early intervention to infertility problems.
Meanwhile, research has shown that apart from age interference, about 85 per cent of women achieve pregnancy within one year of unprotected sex, with the greatest likelihood of conception occurring during the earlier months.  Only an additional 7 per cent of couples conceive in the second year.
To this end, this school of thought now defines infertility as the inability to conceive within 12 months, they advise that the helps of a reproductive endocrinologist be sought for if conception did not occur within 12 months of unprotected sex.

Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi