Ajayi; Uju Onwudinjo, Nordica's first IVF baby, Julian Onwudinjo, Mrs.
Franca Onwudinjo, and Clinic Manager, Mrs. Tola Ajayi, at the 10th
birthday of the clinic's first IVF baby on Wednesday.| credits: Photo:
Solaade Ayo-Aderele)
For many people, birthdays are special occasions -- and rightly so.
It's usually an occasion to look back and show gratitude; or look
forward and express hope. Either way, birthdays are occasions for
celebrations.
For Master Julian Onwudinjo, who marked his 10th birthday on
Wednesday, it was an occasion of multiple rejoicing, not just for him
and his family, but also for the staff and management of Nordica
Fertility Centre.
This is because Julian is the "first fruit" of the fertility clinic,
where his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Onwudinjo, had run to 11 years ago to
find solution to their five years of childlessness.
Julian's mom, Franca, recalls that before the fateful chance discovery
of Nordica's services on the Internet, she and her husband were
already at their tether's end, having tried all the recommendations by
family and friends, without being able to achieve pregnancy.
Franca recalls that by the time she came across the range of services
being rendered by Nordica in the area of assisted pregnancy, she was
convinced that she was in right hands. She wasn't disappointed, as she
got pregnant the very first time she underwent assisted reproductive
therapy with the centre.
The entire process and the achievement was a novelty in many ways than
one. For one, the fertility centre had just opened shop and the
Onwudinjos happened to be one of the very few clients.
More important, it was in 2003 when assisted reproduction therapy was
still relatively new in Nigeria and many people viewed babies born
through the process with suspicion. But IVF experts decry this, while
parents such as Franca say absolutely nothing is wrong in seeking
scientific solutions to a nagging problem.
The Medical Director of Nordica Fertility Centre, Dr. Abayomi Ajayi,
recalls that at the initial stage, most clients were couples who were
in their mid 40s or late 50s -- a situation, he says, made the
treatment cumbersome.
Ajayi counsels, "With treatments such as IVF, the issue that holds
back success potential is both egg quality and egg quantity. At age 40
and above, women have reduced fertility potential when compared to
younger women. Women age 40 and over also have substantially lower
success rates with fertility treatments, including IVF."
In essence, Ajayi says, the younger the woman, the better the chances
of success. He advises that where the woman is under 35, the couple
should see the IVF specialist after one year of trying unsuccessfully
to have a child. And in the case of couples who are over 35, the IVF
specialist says after six months of having unprotected sex that
doesn't result in pregnancy, it's time to pay a visit to the
gynaecologist.
"When it comes to fertility treatment, time is of the essence, because
the longer you delay seeing a specialist, the more complicated issues
become," Ajayi enthuses.
He notes that in many instances, when couples don't see competent
specialist, after undergoing what they call "medical tests", physician
might tell them that they are okay and that they should relax and
continue trying for child. That way, Ajayi warns, time flies past; and
by the time such couples wake up to the reality of the need to seek
assisted help, a lot of things might have gone wrong.
For instance, Julian's mom says all the medical tests showed that she
and her husband were perfectly okay and that they shouldn't have any
problem having their own child, but they simply couldn't.
The Clinic Manager, Mrs. Tola Ajayi, says all those claims are
unscientific, because if, indeed, nothing is wrong, why can't
childless couples have babies as at when desired. She says in reality,
it's when certain factors on the part of the woman -- such as ovulation
cycle, egg quality and many other issues; as well as sperm motility
and morphology on the part of the man are taken into consideration
that the attending physician can truly know the reasons for the
childlessness of a supposedly healthy couple.
She notes that in many cases, after infertile couples have their first
babies through assisted reproduction technology, they have also gone
on to have other children all by themselves. That was the experience
of Franca, who was able to conceive unassisted two years after Julian
was born through the IVF process. She successfully had a baby girl
named Uju, who is now eight years old.
Continue..
ReplyDeleteDr. Ajayi notes that in less than 13 years of practice, Nordica has achieved so much, being the first IVF centre in Nigeria to have a baby from Laser Assisted Hatching, and the first and probably the only IVF centre to use the Intracytoplasmic Morphologically Selected Sperm injection to select sperm and thus solve male related infertility issues. Indeed, scientific studies suggest that using this technique selects better quality sperm and results in higher pregnancy rates and lower miscarriage rates among clients.
Ajayi also recalls that Nordica is the first IVF clinic in Nigeria to start Oocyte cryopreservation, otherwise known as egg freezing — a novel technology in which a woman’s eggs (oocytes) are extracted, frozen and stored. This is particularly useful for young women of childbearing age who needs to undergo certain surgical or other medical procedures, such as chemotherapy, that are likely to affect their chances of having children in the future.
The clinic manager also says Nordica is the first solely dedicated IVF centre in Abuja, and that it is one of the few clinics in Nigeria to do Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis — a procedure through which genetic defects such as Down syndrome are identified in an embryo and eliminated. This way, couples who are likely to have children with SS can get round such problems.
The bottom line: “Childless couples must not wait for too long. The earlier you see the doctor, the better your chances of conception. Older couples can also benefit, but the rate of success is low, compared to young couples,” Ajayi submits.
PUNCH