Infertility should not be a blame game

Muchaneta Chimuka
Herald Correspondent

Prudence (not her real name) – suffered all kinds of abuse at the hands of her husband, relatives and community at large — just because she failed to conceive.

The causes of infertility may be difficult to determine but may include inadequate levels of certain hormones in both men and women, and trouble with ovulation in women.

The main symptom is an inability to get pregnant. In many cases, there are no additional symptoms.

Many treatments significantly improve the chances of getting pregnant.

They include hormone treatments, fertility drugs and surgery. In addition, assisted reproduction uses various medical techniques to fertilise an egg.

Almost on daily basis, Prudence would wake up to face shame, ridicule and mockery from her husband Joseph who was supposed to be her pillar of strength.

The memory of how she suffered at the hands of her husband’s family after failing to conceive for 20 solid years is still fresh in her mind.

“Joseph and his family labelled me infertile. I visited traditional healers and prophets that I was referred to by some who were touched by my plight,” said Prudence.

“I remember at a certain traditional healer in Domboshava I was made to swallow I live frog and I failed and I had to spend the whole day vomiting.

“Some traditional healers would insert some herbs in my private parts and I ended up having infections on my cervix. I knew they were abusing me by touching my private parts, but I had to endure just because I needed a child, I wanted to protect my name and family from shame.”

Prudence said most of the doctors she visited could not find any problem with her, but they warned her against inserting herbs into the reproductive system because chances of developing cervical cancer were high and that she was already suffering from a cervical infection which could be fatal.

She said her husband was adamant against fertility tests as he strongly believed that the problem was on her.

“One day I convinced my husband to go for a fertility test, little did I know that I was starting a new battle,” she said. “He came with his mother and sisters armed with a whip and I was assaulted the whole body only to be rescued by our neighbours who took me to the hospital.

“I sustained a fracture on my head, but I did not report the matter to the police because I feared that my marriage would collapse.

“When I was discharged from hospital, I was surprised to find out that my mother-in-law had already brought a new wife for my husband and all my belongings were placed outside the gate and that was the end of my 20-year-old marriage.”

Three years after the divorce, Prudence remarried and she was blessed with a baby girl. A year later she gave birth to twins; a boy and a girl.

Cultural beliefs on infertility issues have resulted in both physical and emotional abuse of many women in Zimbabwe.

Mr Heaven Munyuki the co–founder of MwanaChipo African Trust (MAT) said infertility could affect anyone.

It knows no gender, race or religion and it does not discriminate despite one’s status.

“My wife and I also had the infertility problem for seven years,” he said. “We prayed, fasted and took various concoctions from traditional and faith healers to no avail.

“Fortunately, my wife fell ill and on diagnosis by a white medical doctor she also narrated that we had no child and the doctor advised me to visit the hospital. At first, I declined until my wife persuaded and I went to the hospital.

“Tests were done and the doctor prescribed some fertility medications. Within two months my wife conceived and later gave birth to a bouncing baby girl.

“Two years later she fell pregnant again, but unfortunately she suffered pregnancy loss. Currently, we are now fighting secondary infertility, but we know we will triumph because with prayer and going the medical route God will find a way.”

Mr Munyuki said infertility affects both men and women equally.

Many people blame women and this has been exacerbated by culture which values a baby more at the expense of the dilemma that women face when they fail to conceive.

“Our society believes that infertility is a disease for women yet this is not true,” said Mr Munyuki.

“From my experience, I discovered that most men are shy to visit health facilities and often send women to be checked up, however, the problem may lie with the men or both of you.

“I encourage men to accompany their partners to health facilities when they are faced with infertility challenges rather than to keep on blaming each other for years.

“Domestic violence is rife among couples with infertility problems and some have lost lives during the process.

“Medical doctors have all these answers that we are crying for. Parents can even adopt if they are willing to comply with the adoption laws of their country if all other medical remedies fail.”

Melody (not her real name) had an In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) to get a child and it was done locally and she had to fork out over US$2 000 for the process.

“My husband was not supportive at all,” she said. “He was fade up with me to the extent of bringing his girlfriends in our matrimonial home as a way of getting rid of me.

“I dearly needed a child and I had to take a loan from my bank so I could afford the IVF. I had no other means. I now have a six months old boy who is precious to me and I have to bear the costs.”

IVF is one of several techniques available to help people with fertility problems have children.

During IVF, an egg is removed from the woman’s ovaries and fertilised with a sperm in a laboratory. The fertilised egg, called an embryo, is then returned to the woman’s womb to grow and develop.

Other women and girls share their experiences about menstruation, but it is not the case for Zerripa ‘Unique’ Amon Phiri (41) who was born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH syndrome).

Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) is a condition whereby a girl is born without a womb or can have a very small, underdeveloped womb.

According to some research, MRKH syndrome occurs in one in every 5 000 women.

Zerripa, who grew up in Chegutu, got the shock of her life when she discovered that she was born without a womb, cervix, and an underdeveloped reproductive organ — meaning to say the outer part appeared normal, while the vulva is narrow to enable proper sexual intercourse.

She is now based in South Africa where she is seeking medical assistance.

Zerripa cannot bear a child due to this rare condition.

Her marriage was irretrievably broken down due to social pressures that were exerted to her husband by some close relatives and the society at large.

“I was without a uterus or ovaries, so I have not experienced menstruation,” she said.

“I do not feel bad about it. I got to know about the problem when I sought medical attention.

“I can only have a child if I have an implantation of the cervix and it is associated with huge costs and its life threatening, especially if it is done to women of our age. I am above 40.”

Zerripa said her problem could have been addressed at puberty, but by then her parents were not aware of the problem.

A Seke traditional healer and member of the Zimbabwe National Practitioner’s Association said several women flock to her shrine to seek traditional interventions on infertility issues.

“When testing for infertility we crush a raw egg, mix it with herbs and we make the women or men to swallow and if they vomit it shows that they are infertile, so we prepare a concoction through the advice from our spirit mediums such that they will be able to conceive,” she said.

“To men, we make them to ejaculate on the water and when the semen floats on top it shows that the men is infertile.”

Sekuru Peter Maponda, a traditionalist, said people who were not able to bear children were labelled by the communities and called different names sucha s “Ngomwa”, meaning barren.

Some are labelled as witches or wizards as the people assume that it is the woman’s womb that swallows her own children.

Some women are made to have sexual intercourse with their husbands’ young brothers to bear children.

This was done in a systematic way so that the elder brother would not be aware.

Families would keep this as a top secret and the elder brother would acquire all the birth records for the child in the belief that the child would be his.

According to a 2003 research by Health Care Women International on the fertility patterns of women in Zimbabwe, at least one in every four women of childbearing age suffers from some degree of infertility.

In some societies, infertility treated as a curse and a bad omen or a result of witchcraft.

According to Mayo Clinic, infertility in men is due to a low sperm count, abnormal sperm function or blockages that prevent the delivery of sperm.

Illnesses, injuries, chronic health problems, lifestyle choices and other factors can play a role in causing male infertility.

According to the World Health Organisation, between 8 and 12 percent of couples around the world have difficulty in conceiving a child at some point in their life, and in some areas that figure reaches one-third or more of couples.

Infertility affects an estimated 48,5 million couples worldwide, of which 10,8 million live in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Merck Foundation chief executive, Dr Rasha Kelej , said the issue of infertility should not be a blame game, mainly on women.

“There is a large group of people who are failing to conceive,” she said. “Some end up committing suicide, being involved in drug abuse, domestic violence, stigma and neglect, and living a life of regretting among other negative consequences brought because of shame.

“Socially and culturally, human beings are expected to reproduce and when this fails to happen women mostly are blamed for infertility with some fingered as ‘barren’ ‘witches” or abortionists’, yet the true story lies with the individual. Some conditions require scientific explanations.”