A renowned professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Teaching Hospital, UNTH, Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu State, has opined that infertile couples can bear children despite their medical challenges through the application of the Assisted Reproductive Technology, ART.
Prof Nnamdi Obi, the gynaecologist explained that the Assisted Reproductive Technology is a novel medical technology which encompasses all fertility treatments in which both eggs and sperm are handled outside the body.
Presenting the 134th inaugural lecture of the University of Nigeria, Obi submitted that in this procedure, eggs surgically removed from a woman’s ovaries are combined with the sperm in the laboratory and subsequently returned to the woman’s body or donated to another woman.
In the study, he explained, ART or adoption was the second most common treatment options offered to women after treatment investigation and diagnosis, especially when the cause was not responsive to our conventional treatment.
The medical surgeon noted that one of the common methods of the Assisted Reproductive Technology, ART, is the In Vitro fertilization, IVF, in which fertilization takes place outside of the body and the Zygote is transferred back to the womb.
“At creation, God said let us make man in our image after our likeness: and let them have dominion over all the earth. So, God created man in his image, and God blessed them and said unto them. Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it,” Obi quoted from the Bible.
He continued: the word “fruitful” signifies fertility while “multiply” refers to the reproduction of the human species. It is when this ability to reproduce one’s kind fails that the adventure of infertile couples in the domain of the gynaecologist begins.
The Professor,however, defined infertility as the inability of a couple to achieve pregnancy after 12 months of frequent, regular (at least three times weekly) unprotected s3x, stressing that the single most important factor affecting the chances of achieving pregnancy is the timing and frequency of intercourse.
The erudite scholar stated that the issue was important because it is not uncommon to find couples coming to the infertility clinic after one year of marriage, complaining of infertility when in actual fact, the couple reside in different cities and only have coitus when the husband visits, which is mostly on weekends.
The medical practitioner also identified sperm abnormalities, premature ejaculation, exposure to chemicals (pesticides), excess alcohol, anti-inflammatory drugs and age as some of the major causes of infertility among men while such factors as cigarette smoking, extreme weight gain, excessive alcohol consumption and age as some of the causes of the problem among women.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Prof. Chukwuma Ozumba, represented by Prof. James Ogbonna, deputy vice chancellor (Academic), had explained that the founding fathers of the university introduced the inaugural lecture series in 1976 to stimulate research and boost learning among the academia and expressed satisfaction that the lecture has been rewarding.
