INFERTILITY AS A CAUSE OF BROKEN HOMES (PART 1)
Parenthood is undeniably one of the most universally desired goals in adulthood, with most people having life plans that include children. However not all couple who desire a pregnancy will achieve one spontaneously and a proportion of couple will need medical help to resolve underlining fertility challenges while some may never be able to have their own genetic children and will result to use of donor gametes (sperm/egg) or even adoption.
Infertility is a global health problem and a social destabilizing condition for couples associated with stigmas and a major cause of marital frictions. Many homes go through the pains of the childlessness with the issues of infertility fast becoming a common occurrence in the county. According to the World Health Organization, infertility prevalence rates are difficult to determine due to the presence of both male and female factors which may only address the woman and an outcome of a pregnancy diagnosis or live birth.
The African society places a high premium on the size of the family, be it nuclear or extended. The woman’s place in marriage remains precarious till confirmed through child bearing. In most case, a woman has to prove her womanhood through motherhood, and the man also having to confirm his manhood in the same fashion. Children are held as a source of pride, strength and economic fortune for the family, a man’s wealth and strength being equated to his progeny. Infertility therefore involves a feeling of loss even though previously inexistent; it is thought to be tangible and therefore impacts negatively on a couple’s mental and social wellbeing. Infertility may constitute a crisis in the affected family. The attendant emotional, psychological, cultural and social burden drains the couple of self-worth and esteem. In most African society, a woman’s childlessness may be viewed as a punishment for a social misdemeanour or attributed to other factors including witchcraft and the disaffection of one’s ancestors. The unsolicited and often inpatient societal demands and expectations place on such couples an unimaginable pressure and tension.
They may become isolated and neglected consequent upon the attendant social stigmatization. Childlessness is a dreaded outcome of any marriage in the society and often leads to polygamy and broken marriage but rarely child adoption in the traditional African setting. Female infertility is stigmatized in western as well as non-western cultures. The notion of child-bearing being a hallmark of womanhood, the high premium placed on children by extended families as well as difficulties in the procedure for legal or permanent adoption make stigmatizing attitudes experienced by infertile woman particularly severe in non-western cultures.
Although the socio-cultural setting has before now focused on the female, fertility issued are shared by both male and female sexes.
Demographic studies have shown that more women are delaying childbearing at the present time than previously. This trend is expected to cause a corresponding rise in the mean age at which women first present themselves at fertility clinics. It is unclear as to whether women who present to fertility clinics at an older age have a different diagnostic profile from that in younger women. However, research has proven that older women may be more likely to be diagnosed with unexplained infertility and that this is due to the negative effect of age on ovarian reserve. Clinicians have also observed that most infertile couple present at the infertility clinic at least after 5 years of trying to conceive usually after the age of 37 years when their natural fertility is already declining. Fertility declines with age in both male and female. Infertility in older women may be due to a higher risk of chromosomal abnormalities that occur in the eggs as they age as well as diminished ovarian reserve. Older women are also more likely to have health problems that may interfere with fertility. The risk of miscarriage also is much higher with advancing maternal age.
An overwhelming amount of evidence has accumulated in the last five to seven years that point to the fact that there has been rise in the male infertility and some researches have shown it at an incidence rate of 40-50%. Despite the high prevalence of infertility in Nigeria, not much effort has been made at tackling the problem. This high prevalence of infertility on men has been associated with sexually transmitted infection, and in women pelvic inflammatory disease, post-abortal or post-partum genital tract infection and even environmental toxin.
THE IMPACT OF INFERTILITY ON THE COUPLE
When a woman cannot bear children, it tremendously affects her identity, but the pain can extend far beyond her to affect her relationship. Conflict often arises amongst couple over which treatment or when to adopt. Most treatment options available for management of infertility may be very expensive and emotionally draining. Infertility also affects a woman’s relationship with other members of the family like the mother and father in laws. Misunderstanding may be arising from their perception of what infertility is and what its management should entail……………………………………TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK.
