House ready to halt abuse of ART in the country
By Tom Okpe
The House of Representatives has taken steps to completely, halt unethical practices and abuses, associated with Assisted Reproductive Health Technology, (ART) in Nigeria.
This followed adoption of a motion of urgent public importance, moved by Rep Babajimi Benson, (APC, Lagos) at resumption of plenary on Tuesday.
Presenting the motion, the lawmaker said the utilisation of ART and referrals to fertility centres has witnessed a notable surge in Nigeria, especially since the advent of the new millennium.
He also said the fertility industry has emerged as a thriving industry, estimated to worth one billion dollars, with private and public hospitals across the country, taking parts in the practice.
Benson noted that the practice is providing an alternative avenue for establishing pregnancies and
parenthood.
According to him, “ART procedures entails surgical extraction of eggs from a woman’s ovarian fusion with sperm in laboratory settings and subsequent reintegration into the donor’s body or transfer to a woman or storage in an egg bank.”
He expressed worry that: “Women undergo surgical egg retrieval, relinquishing control over the eggs obtained between N100,000 to N150,000 per retrieval, with five to six eggs extracted per month.
“The widespread practice of terming this process as ‘donation,’ while in reality, desperate women of childbearing age are coerced through targeted marketing to sell their eggs with potentially adverse effects on their future reproductive health and overall well-being.
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“Alarmed by the fact that fertility centres have capitalized on the absence of a suitable regulatory
framework to exploit providers, donors and potentially, engage in the trade of donated eggs.
“Cognizant that if this trend is not urgently checked, it will lead to an increase in cases of infertility and cancer infections among young donors and surrogates as well as promoting exploitative practices,” he said.
