Women who can afford In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) have been encouraged by a specialist, Obstetrician Gynaecologist, Dr Dixie Constantini of the Women’s Health Obstetrics and Gynecology, to explore it as a means to get pregnant.
IVF is a medical procedure whereby an egg is fertilised by sperm in a test tube or elsewhere outside the body.
She has given an assurance that it was safe and had even given some women who were battling infertility the opportunity to carry more than two babies at once.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghanaian Times on Thursday, Dr Constantini said it was needless to decide to wait because others said they got pregnant while waiting for it to happen by itself.
“Many would actually hide the truth from you. Most people will not tell you that they got pregnant via IVF,” she said, and therefore it was not a good idea to choose to follow the crowd.
She gave an assurance that IVF worked and had worked for some women who had been trying to conceive, but unsuccessfully for years.
Dr Constantini said it was important for women to seek help because it was available, and not to think of what others might say.
Meanwhile, some women have disclosed to the Ghanaian Times in separate interviews why they would not like to have an IVF to conceive.
“I am afraid my baby will be stigmatised and called a “test tube baby” by my family and friends for not being born through the natural means and so I would rather wait and get pregnant naturally even though I have been battling infertility for three years,” a woman who spoke on condition of anonymity said.
Another, who gave her name as Ama Serwaa, said her religious beliefs did not encourage IVF so she would rather hope and pray that things took its natural course.
However, another woman who spoke on condition of anonymity said she did IVF to have two of her children and was happy about it.
“Sometimes I want to use myself as an example to motivate other women but I am not sure how people would see my children. It is good to pray but also good to seek professional help. Every child is a gift from God regardless of how he or she was made,” she said.
A male teacher said there was no need to let others know how your children were conceived if a person did not want to share that information.
He, however, said it was unfortunate that people who had benefited from IVF did not want to share their testimony to encourage others who might be ignorant or reluctant to do same because of the immaturity of others who would like to stigmatise such children.
FROM DZIFA TETTEH TAY, TEMA
