Couples Experiencing Infertility Issues Should Speak Up, There Is Hope For Them – Dr. Orebamjo
Dr. Taiwo Orebamjo is the Medical Director of Lifeshore Fertility Clinic. In this interview with CHIOMA UMEHA to mark the five years of the founding of the clinic, he talks about the success story so far. Excerpts:
Looking at your efforts in infertility management, how do you describe the acceptance of In vitro fertilization (IVF) in Nigeria?
In Nigeria and Africa as a whole, IVF is being stigmatized culturally, but gradually it is gaining acceptance because there is not much alternative; if you need it, you need it.
The only problem is that many people are still not aware of the facilities that are available for assisted techniques and those who have actually had successes with it, because of the socio-cultural stigma do not say much about it. They will go to Church and give testimony without mentioning that it was by IVF. They will just go to Church and say, ‘the Lord has done it,’ while their listeners with similar infertility challenges will go back and intensify their prayers, not realizing that even when you do IVF and it is successful, it is still the Lord that made it possible.
How do you feel about Lifeshore Clinic celebration of five years in infertility management?
I feel very happy to have gone this far and our clinic has been very successful in helping couples and turning patients into parents which is our mission because it is possible to set up things like this and not be having successes, but we have had over 50 babies over the past five years. Our success rate is between one in two and one in three, which is comparable anywhere else in the world. So, I am really very happy and satisfied with our achievement and I pray God continues to help us the way he has helped us till date and we will continue to try our best.
What has been your strength over the five years in achieving the success you are celebrating today?
My strength has been the staff, I must confess. I`ve been lucky to have good staff; the nursing team is fantastic, my embryologist, nurses, etc. We have been getting positive results from my embryologist. He is also a very skillful embryologist.
What were your challenges?
Majorly the challenges that are occurring in the society at large, such as poor infrastructure and economy that affect everybody. The economy is affecting patients and the IVF wouldn’t be a cheap procedure or treatment because most of the drugs are imported, so the economy affects the cost of drugs and equipment.
Also, we have an electricity issue; we need constant electricity to carry out this treatment. That is a challenge for us and we are always on a generator. We are burning diesel all the time. Even when the distribution company eventually brings electricity, it is either high voltage, unstable voltage, or low voltage and all these affect the equipment. The equipment is very sensitive to electricity. And so sometimes it spoils our equipment.
We can’t hold anybody accountable for this. So the problem of infrastructure and the problem of the economy are the main things that are affecting us.
If the economy and infrastructure pick up, things would be better for everybody; these are the challenges we are facing.
Is there anything that distinguishes services atLifeshoreClinicthatcouldbeanattraction over the five years?
Our success rate speaks for itself, because ultimately, what the couple/ patients want to achieve the pregnancy. Our success rate has been great compared with other facilities all over the world and that is the main selling point.
I am happy to say that that is a distinguishing factor for us. We have a good success rate and also the staff; we have friendly staff. That is the main thing. It is not like other places where everything is just automatic. We are not saying that it is by our might; we are just trying our best, but God has been blessing our effort.
So what message do you have for couples who are having issues with infertility?
The message is that they should not lose hope, they should continue to have hope, and there are treatments available to help them. What they should do is to try and seek help and not just seat back and say they are waiting on the Lord or something like that. Because at the end of the day, if they seek help and they achieve success, it still God’s doing.
So my message is that they should not just fold their hands, there are all sorts of treatments that are available. They should seek help rather than just stay and be hoping and praying alone.
Concerning male involvement in addressing Infertility in Nigeria, what would you tell couples who have such issues?
Male factor as a cause of fertility is prevalent all over the world and it seems like it is increasing and Nigeria is no exception. So we don’t know if it is modern diet or not, but we notice that the sperm count is reducing. Now there are treatments available for males who are affected by this. One of them is ICSI (Intracytoplasmic sperm injection) an injection for men who have low sperm count and if at the end of the day the sperm count is totally absent, there are donor facilities that are available and that is not really something that is embraced in our environment, using donor sperm, but that is also an alternative that is available.
Is there anything that the government ought to do apart from the issue of infrastructure or different medical group are supposed to be doing to promote infertility treatment?
Obviously, we need to have regulatory body in place. We have internal regulatory body – Association for Fertility and Reproductive Health (AFRH) which ensures that it is only qualified members that carry out fertility treatment, but it is only our members that it can regulate. The charlatans cannot be regulated because they are not within our fold, they are not part of us, and so the internal regulatory body cannot regulate them.
But, the government can regulate everybody, so what actually needs to happen is that government needs to clamp down on those who are not qualified and are just taking advantage of the public. They need to make sure that only qualified people are permitted to carry out those treatments.
Again, I think the government should publish the names of fertility centres that are actually accredited to carry out such treatments so that it can be public and made available online and the public at large can just Google and see which gynecology practitioner is available and hospitals that are accredited to do it.
Can you assess the role of Association for Fertility and Reproductive Health (AFRH) as a member?
Well, AFRH itself is growing, it is trying. We have senior members in it like Prof. Joe Osagie and others. So we regulate ourselves and provide up-to-date information. We organize conferences. I didn’t go to the recent conference, but my hospital sponsored some of our staff to go for the conference which held in Port Harcourt. So, the rule is to regulate ourselves as members and share up-to-date information with other members generally. It has been effective that way.
Lifeshore is providing free tests to mark its five years. Can you give the details?
Well, there is a promo in place (discounted fee, registration and treatment fee) from 1st of December through the middle of January. Anyone who registers within that period there would be a discounted fee available. This is in celebration of our anniversary.
Besides, what we will also like is for the media to educate the public to reduce the stigmatisation associated with assisted reproductive treatment and let the public know that babies that are born this way are normal babies. The first IVF baby was conceived in 1978, and that is Lewis Brown, an English woman. Up till now she doesn’t have any problem or complication. She is perfectly okay. And there are others too. So the media should help in tackling myths and misconceptions against IVF. Also couples experiencing infertility should speak up. We want them to know that there is hope for them.