Women who face challenges conceiving due to certain health complications, especially related to the womb have been advised by a fertility counsellor, Olaronke Thaddeus, to consider surrogacy and other methods of assisted reproductive technology to have children.
The expert, who is the founder of meet surrogate mothers agency in Lagos, said fertility-challenged couples should go for surrogacy without shame after trying other methods of art like in vitro fertilisation without success.
IVF is a method of art in which a man’s sperm and a woman’s eggs are combined outside of the body in a laboratory dish. it involves using medical intervention to conceive.
The fertility specialist said there is a need for couples battling infertility to seek treatment early rather than wait endlessly without achieving a result.
Experts say surrogacy is a fertility treatment in which a woman, known as a surrogate mother, carries a pregnancy to term and gives birth to a child for another couple, known as the intended parents.
It can be a viable option for couples who are struggling to conceive or carry a pregnancy to term due to a variety of factors, including male and female infertility.
Thaddeus, who spoke during a media parley in Lagos organised by her agency ahead of its forthcoming maiden edition of fertility awareness programme, pointed out that just because some women cannot conceive naturally does not mean that they are unable to become mothers.
She said women who cannot carry a child to term and also those with blocked fallopian tubes have an option of surrogacy to have children that they are genetically related to.
The expert also identified women with cancer and kidney issues and those with conditions that could be a threat to their pregnancy as those who can also embrace surrogacy.
The counsellor said surrogacy has many benefits as it gives intending parents an opportunity to have a biological child.
Thaddeus said there is a need to raise awareness about surrogacy services, stating that infertility has not only become a global issue but also alarming.
She also disclosed that one in every four couples suffers from infertility.
A new report published by the World Health Organisation (WHO)  indicates that around 17.5 per cent of the adult population – roughly one in six worldwide – experience infertility.
