TIME FOR LAWS TO REGULATE FERTILITY MEDICINE 

There is need to strengthen regulations in assisted reproductive technology

It is estimated that at least one in four Nigerian couples has one or more forms of fertility issues. Pressure from the Nigerian society on childbearing pushes a chunk of these couples to seek artificial reproductive assistance. However, since laws and policies are not being developed to meet the demands of this growing industry, the loophole is being exploited by quacks, and even some otherwise known fertility clinics. Reports abound of substandard services to couples seeking in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) with some not only disappointed with failed outcomes, but end up having serious health concerns relating to their procedures. Others have had to pay huge amounts so they can get young, and in many cases, underage girls, to carry their unborn babies. Some buy babies with the assistance of fraudulent assisted reproductive technology (ART) centres that are now all over the country.

It is indeed very telling that 14 years after a Bill to regulate ART was first presented before the National Assembly, there is still no law guiding this critical health sector. “We do not have laws that regulate ART in Nigeria, whether it is egg donor, IVF or surrogacy. It is more or less left to the dictates of those who are involved, and we have seen cases of manipulations of different kinds,” said Timothy Adewale, the Executive Director of Centre for Health Equity and Justice (CEHEJ), an NGO that promotes reproductive health rights in the country. “Normally, the National Assembly is supposed to pass a bill and when it has been signed into an Act, it then trickles down to the states for domestication.”

That this critical area of healthcare has no regulatory oversight is an issue that requires urgent attention. Despite strident campaigns by experts, the sector has for long been overlooked by the National Assembly with dire implications. From human egg harvesting, in-vitro fertilisation itself, up to advertorials on ART success rates, many practitioners in Nigeria are having a field day without much monitoring; all at the expense of patients who crave for these all-important public and social health services.

According to many reports, some fertility clinics in the country are harvesting eggs of young girls in exchange for money. In many cases, underage victims are coerced into trading their eggs monthly even though the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said no one female should have her eggs harvested more than twice a year. The health body has also stated that egg harvesting, just like blood donation, must not be traded for financial gains.

Except Lagos which has some regulations, specifically on IVF, the remaining 35 states are yet to enact any legislation to regulate fertility medicine. Although some practitioners in Nigeria have formed the Association for Fertility and Reproductive Health (AFRH) to produce ethical guidelines that would govern the practice of assisted conception in the country, they cannot enforce these guidelines. Legislations from the National Assembly and the states’ houses of assembly are therefore required to properly regulate the sector. In the Nigerian society, fertility is not just about health, it is a serious social issue that requires every attention it deserves.

The Managing Director, Nordica Fertility Centre, Abayomi Ajayi has spoken out on the challenge in the sector. “More than 60 per cent of people offering IVF service in the country do not have the facilities but due to the perceived financial benefits and patronage, doctors and health workers who know little or nothing about IVF have continued to take advantage of couples in need by offering services.”

We urge the National Assembly to heed his admonition.