When a man and a woman come together in marriage, it is usually in accordance with the scripture that says "go ye into the world and multiply". During the wedding ceremony the couple recieves a lot of prayers from the guests at the ceremony. Topping the list of these prayers is the gift of children. In the past, children were the main reason why people got married. The general belief then was that at least 1 year after the wedding, the cry of a baby should be heard in the house and incidentally, that was the norm in those days. Polygamy was rampant back in the day and so children filtered each compound like ants. Seasons change they say. Now there is a rapid increase in infertility in the land. lnfertility refers to the biological inability of a person to contribute to conception. It may arise from the man, the woman or even the couple as a whole.
Infertility can be extremely difficult emotionally and when getting pregnant takes longer than expected, it can be very depressing. In this part of the world when a couple cannot give birth to a child, the woman is at the receiving end. She is blamed for all the problems and mishaps trailing the family just because they have no children. The woman is pushed to do unimaginable things. She goes from one native doctor to another, from one oracle to another seeking help. There she is told that the problem is from the witches coven in her village, how they tied her womb with chains and threw the key into a bottomless pit. She is asked to drink all sorts of concotion, stand naked in the midnight and carry different bowls of sacrifice on her head. She ematiates, looks dejected, depression sets in and she is almost loosing her mind because pressure is mounting on her. She asks herself in her quiet time... "What is wrong with me?... Who is doing this to me??". She may even go to the extent of paying huge sums of money for "miracle babies" that she would never see. Husbands are supposed to be supportive of their wives during this period but some women are unfortunate to have the devil marrying them. Such husbands join forces with the extended family and literally send the woman to her early grave. Then science came along the way.
Thank God for science you might add. Recent day studies and research has shown that men may also be responsible for infertility. The exact cause of Infertility is not known but Low sperm count, cryptochidism, cancer of the testes, trauma bto the testes, smoking, alcoholism are some of the risk factors of infertlity in men. For the women: multiple abortions, fibroid, endometrial cancer are some of the factors attributed to infertility. The days of blaming the woman for the couples infertility are slowly fading away as people are becoming wiser. Now the husbands readily go with their wives to the hospital to undergo series of tests to determine the actual cause of their infertility and seek solutions to the problem. Such solutions include fertility treatments such as GIFT (gamete intra-fallopian transfer), IVF (In-vitro fertilization) and ICSI (intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection) to enable them have children. The probability of success in these treatments is between 25% - 35% and the cost of such treatments is not pocket friendly for the average citizen especially in this part of the world. When trying to conceive with these ferility treatments and the monthly menstruation period comes, whatever hope you had will be squashed instantly... talk about a morale killer. Adoption is also an option especially when all other efforts have failed.
The infertility complaint is usually rampant among the elite as little or nothing of the sort is heard among the poor. Is this a case of the rich also cry? Or maybe the poor attribute the etiology of their infertility to the witches from their village out of sheer ignorance. The society has a prominent role in the infertility issue. They add to the depression of the infertile couple by ridiculing and gossiping about them with each passing moment. It takes well rooted love in a union to overcome all the challenges associated with infertility.
Prevention of infertility includes avoiding pollutions in the environment and chronic alcoholism, eat foods rich in antioxidants e.g tomatoes because oxidative stress has been attributed to low sperm count. Women should take time to relax off work because work stress and its associated factors decreases the chances of conceiving.
Finally, infertility should be seen as a collective issue and not a blame-trading venture. Remember that marriage is for better and for worse. Accept your spouse as he/she is. Impossibility is nothing.
GRACIAS.