Washington Post Examines Effect Of Fertility Treatments On African Women

Main Category: Fertility
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 18 Aug 2008 - 9:00 PST

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The Washington Post on Thursday examined the effect that fertility treatments in Africa are having on a growing number of middle class women who are shunned by society because of their infertility. According to the Post, the stigma of infertility on the continent often forces women into isolation, and it is "so severe that it often drives women -- and men -- to suicide."

In the past few years, several fertility clinics have opened across Africa, including in Kenya and Uganda. The Post reports that the clinics offer an alternative to superstitious explanations of infertility and "dubious" advice from some traditional healers. Fertility physicians also are revealing an "uncomfortable truth about a condition almost always blamed on women: that at least half the time, the problem is with the man."

Annie Akatabaazi, who helps run a clinic in Uganda that treats thousands of women annually, said, "The number of clients is going up by the day. Some ask to come at night, so they'll not be seen. Some call whispering. Sometimes they don't want to give you their name. They come saying, 'My husband is going to leave me if I don't have children.' And the men, once they find out, they come every day. If they have an appointment at 9 a.m., they show up at 8" a.m.

According to the Post, the "deeply entrenched" culture of large families in Africa is related to economics. Children represent financial security, particularly in societies that do not receive assistance from governments, the Post reports. Children are expected to provide for their parents when they get older, and they often protect women against a divorce system that typically grants property to men. "In the African sense, children are an investment," Robinah Kaitiritimba -- a health care advocate in Kampala, Uganda -- said.

The Post also profiled Betty Apio, a Ugandan woman who has been unable to have children because of a botched abortion (McCrummen, Washington Post, 8/14).

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