Taking advantage of the increasing number of couples afflicted with infertility problems but desirous of having their own children, many young men and ladies whose sperms and eggs are still very healthy are hawking these essential ingredients of procreation at fertility centres in Lagos with the alacrity of street traders selling such wares as bread, handkerchief and sachet water, etc. And they are smiling to the banks.
Saturday Sun investigation revealed that many of those in this business are undergraduates whose ages range between 21 and 32 years. After donating their sperm and eggs for a handsome fee, they return to their schools flaunting their newly found ‘wealth’ as ‘bigger boys and girls’.
Aside from the age of the egg donors, it was gathered that among other characteristics, their educational qualifications are also considered. The acceptable minimum educational qualification is the Senior Secondary Certificate (SSCE).
A source in one of the fertility clinic, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “In this centre, we do not consider those who do not have at least the Senior Secondary Certificate (SSCE). Fortunately, most of the boys and girls coming to donate sperms and eggs have even better educational qualifications. Most of them are in tertiary institutions; some are already graduates. In fact, for us, the more enlightened the donor the better.”
He added that more than ever before, the number of young men and girls willing to donate their sperm and egg is increasing by the day. He added, however, that despite the increasing popularity of the practice, demand still outweighs supply because of the increasing rate of infertility among married couples in the country.
Similarly, another assisted reproduction expert disclosed that they undergo screening for infections and genetic diseases. He added that because anonymity is the name of the game, most of the donors are not known to the recipients and vice versa.
Saturday Sun gathered that while a few of the donors do so on humanitarian grounds, many are influenced by pecuniary considerations. However, efforts to ascertain the amount paid to the donors did not yield positive result because the experts maintained sealed lips.
According to the first female embryologist in West Africa, Mrs. Bobo Kayode, “people don’t sell sperm or egg. Sperm and egg donors don’t get paid but get a token to cover their expenses. Other egg donors do egg sharing whereby they give out supernumery eggs to those that pay for part of their procedure.”
Speaking with Saturday Sun, a female donor, who gave her name as Dupe and claimed to be a student of Lagos State University, said people of her ilk were rendering help to couples in need and should be commended. Hear her: “We are actually helping couples in need. It is not all about money because without people like us what can their money do them? You know the stigma childless couples go through especially in Africa.”
Oluchi, a student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, argued that there is nothing wrong with using the eggs, which are being wasted monthly during menstruation to make ends meet.
Despite the secrecy associated with sperm and egg donation, the practice is becoming more popular in the country because of availability of banking facilities, which is an integral aspect of Assisted Reproduction Technique (ART).
According to Prof. Osato Giwa-Osagie, pioneer of human banking services in Nigeria and medical director, Advanced Fertility Clinic (AFC), Lagos, in this age of HIV/AIDS, among other health conditions, insemination, using fresh semen, is no longer permissible.
Giwa-Osagie said: “It (banking) allows you to store the sperm so that it can be used for the patient, if, for instance, her husband is not around. It allows you to use sperms that had been screened for people who cannot produce sperm, just the way you use blood bank to serve people who need blood. Of course, when assisted conception became more advanced, sperm banking became imperative”.
It was gathered that dead men also donate sperm, just like other organs, like eyes, kidney, etc. A report said that sperm could be extracted from a dead man “using a technique called electro-********. An instrument that looks like a cattle prod is inserted into the dead man’s rectum. An electric shock then causes an ********. It can also be collected by surgically removing some tissues from the man testicles.”
Many pregnancies have been achieved through sperm from dead men.
Like semen, which is stored for future use, oocytes (eggs) can also be frozen until when needed.
According to Prof. Oladapo Ashiru, an assisted conception guru: “ Yes, it is possible to retrieve eggs of a woman and store them. A woman’s egg can be stored indefinitely under liquid nitrogen. That is, it can be stored for years, as long as you maintain the level of liquid nitrogen for the period. The eggs remain viable despite the duration of storage. The fertility rate, after storage, is as high as 95 per cent. No chromosomal damage occurs.”
It was further gathered that most of the women who require donated eggs are those in their late 30s to 50s who have not had babies of their own.
According to Dr. Abayomi Ajayi, medical director of Nordica Fertility Center, Lagos, “there is a big influence of age on reproductive capability. Age affects the quality and quantity of the woman’s eggs. The ovaries are like the warehouse of eggs. Each time she menstruates or ovulates, some of the eggs in the warehouse are used up. The funny thing is that it is the best of the eggs that are used up each time; so if a woman has been ovulating for 20 years, she has been using the best quality of her eggs for 20 years compared to someone who has been ovulating for five years; so you are likely to get better eggs from the later. There are some changes that take place in the egg. One is that the covering of the egg gets thicker, which is one of the barriers to reproduction. Apart from that, also the older the women, the chances of mistakes in the splitting of the eggs occur.”
He added: “For pregnancy to occur, the sperm fertilizes the egg, and this divides into two. For human being to be formed, the division goes on to form various body tissues. The chance that there will be error in this division is dependent on the age of the woman, what we call aneuploidy, meaning the chances that there will be chromosomal mistakes. The chances are higher when the woman is older. That’s why when a woman is above 37-38, they are screened for genetic diseases during pregnancy. For instance, we know that chances of mongolism (downsyndrome) increases in such women.”
Explaining that an investigation could be carried out to determine the egg stock of a woman, he pointed out: “That helps us to determine whether the woman’s eggs could be used or the younger woman’s egg might be needed. Often that’s what we do. Usually, we do a test called hormonal assay to look for the follicle- stimulating hormone on the tree. If it is high, no matter what we do, she won’t get pregnant, and so we should be talking about donor-eggs in such a person.”
Saturday Sun gathered that when a woman receives donated egg, her husband’s sperm, if healthy, will be used to fertilize it and she will carry her own pregnancy. Also, if a man’s sperm is unsuitable, the donated sperm will be used to fertilize his partner’s egg and she will achieve pregnancy. In some cases, both the sperm and egg could be donated to a couple to enable them to have a child, resulting in multiple parentage for the baby.
http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/newsonthehour/2010/jan/23/newsbreak-01-23-2010-001.htm
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