Lagos when a 53-year-old woman was
recently delivered of two bouncing baby
boys. The woman was conceived
through Invitro Fertilisation (IVF),
having waited for over 20 years in
humiliation and agony.
IVF is a process by which an egg is fertilised
by sperm outside the body. The process
involves monitoring a woman's ovulatory
process, removing ovum or ova (egg or eggs)
from the woman's ovaries and letting sperm
fertilise them in a fluid medium in a
laboratory.
The fertilised egg (zygote) is then transferred
to the patient's uterus (womb) after three to
five days of being in the incubator, with the
intention of establishing a successful
pregnancy.
In a chat with Reportnaija in Lagos, the elated
woman, who pleaded anonymity, probably for
cultural reasons, described it as "20 years of
tensed waiting for her marriage to produce
fruits."
The jubilant nursing mother and her husband
said they were not after publicity but decided
to speak to the press in order to encourage
couples who are presently facing similar
challenges in their marriage not to give up,
adding that it is never too late for anyone.
She admitted that she has almost given up
when it was obvious that menopause had set
in but continued to exercise her religious
faith, until according to her, God directed her
to St Ives Centre, even when she was not
having the required money to carry out the
IVF circle.
" If one is in a marriage for two – three years,
and has no child to show for it, as an African,
there will be pressure, so mine was not
exceptional. Though my people respected my
person, there were pressures both from
within and outside. But l held on to God
because I'm a strong Christian and l know He
never fails. I serve a living God who is faithful
despite our unfaithfulness.
"I heard about St Ives just by chance. That
was in September last year. Coincidentally, l
did my Masters programme at Obafemi
Awolowo University (OAU), very close to the
hospital, and l never knew this place existed.
It was divine and all things work together for
those that love God.
"My advice to every woman wanting fruit of
the womb is that they should hold on to God
and l pray for them that their joy should
come into manifestation soon. There is
nothing impossible for God, it could be
difficult with man but certainly not with God.
If He can do mine at 53, it shows no case is
concluded.
"For me, l see it as a reward for my past
shame. God has given me double glory, my
two boys. It is more than a miracle. And for
the management of St Ives, l keep praying
for them because they are not after one's
money, if they were, l couldn't have
registered.
"People used to call me Big Mummy, but God
has given me a new and better name,
'mummy twins'. l am now a fulfilled woman,"
she narrated.
Her husband, who claimed to be four months
older than his wife, said he knew his wife at
age 12 when they were in secondary school
but time and space set them apart for
separate marriages where the man was
fortunate to have children unlike the woman.
Fate however reunited them to become a
happy family today having known each other
for over 40 years.
He said the joy that the twins brought to the
family had overridden their past
apprehension; trauma and agony all through
the years of his wife's infertility, adding that
she might have wept secretly on countless
occasions.
"Today, all we are saying is thank you God.
My wife had fasted and prayed and l believed
that is why you see her looking like under
sixteen now. I must confess that everybody is
happy," he said.
Reacting on the feat, Chief Medical Director of
St Ives Hospital, Babatunde Okewale said the
hospital's Fertility Unit adopts a success-
oriented approach towards infertility,
focusing on solution for infertile couples at an
affordable cost rather than doing endless
investigation and tests.
The cost of IVF in most Nigerian hospitals, he
said, was relatively between N650,000 and 1
million per circle and that was largely
dependent on an individual patient. He noted
that it was never a cheap process globally as
it costs about 10, 000 dollars and above 5,
000 pounds in the United States of America
and United Kingdom respectively.
Okewale pointed out that there were other
procedures in medicine that were more
expensive than IVF, giving kidney transplant
and hip replacement that cost over N1 million
as examples. He maintained that the
procedure was affordable by most Nigerians.
He revealed that through IVF, about 550
babies have been delivered at his hospital
which was established five years ago. He said
St Ives does a half price promo once a year,
in collaboration with some Non-Governmental
Organisations.
Okewale further stated that the hospital is
highly specialised in treating repeated IVF
failure, provides treatment for men diagnosed
with sperm problems and in elderly patients
with a success of about 30 percent, including
the conception and delivery by a 57-year-old
woman.
As infertility continues on the rise worldwide,
he enumerated some of the causes as
urbanization, pollution, stress, chemical
exposure, career orientation, late settlement
in life, non-properly treated infections, obesity
and abuse of antibiotics.
Urging Nigerian women to start bearing
children earlier, he also said that the success
of IVF was determined by age and the earlier
the better.
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