A medical doctor at the LEKMA Hospital at Teshie near Accra, Dr. Samuel Gyedu Owusu, has heavily criticised the social stigmatisation of women who struggle with infertility.

In an exclusive, Dr. Owusu said infertility stigma against women is a wicked practice in today’s modern world.

In his estimation, not all women came into the world to have children, therefore, it would be very unfair to make a woman the subject of infertility stigmatisation.

To some women, Dr. Gyedu Owusu asserted, it has never been in their interest to have children. And so, classifying such women as infertile and stigmatising them is unfair.

He told journalist and gender advocate Emelia Naa Ayeley Aryee, that even with the women who crave to have their own children but have been unable to, it has never been their desire to be infertile or fail at making babies.

To the young doctor, no one came into this world and decided to be infertile; stressing that some people are infertile through no fault of theirs.

“I have encountered people who do not want to have children, not everyone has the baby-making mindset. And some people are infertile through no fault of theirs. That is why it is very wrong to label a woman as infertile and stigmatize her because she’s yet to have a baby or does not have a baby,” Dr. Owusu admonished.

Dr. Gyedu Owusu shares experience

In his line of work, Dr. Gyedu has come across many women desiring to have children but with no success.

Most of these women, he narrated, have had to endure stress, depression, agony, grief, and all the pains associated with their failure to produce a child, adding that some even lose their life in the process. Read the story of Hadiza Yahan who died tragically as published earlier by Myjoyonline.com. Hadiza Yahan who died tragically.

Infertility stigma, therefore, is like rubbing salt into the wounds of these women who already have their own cross to carry, a heavy one for that matter due to the varied medical conditions they may be battling.

According to the doctor, some of these women even take their own lives because society made them feel less human for their inability to have babies at the time they were expected to.

He noted that pregnancy is not an easy journey, emphasizing that there have been cases where some pregnant women even lose their babies during or at the end of their pregnancy journey. Others die and leave the baby, or they die together with the baby.

“One of my students whom we have been monitoring lost her child in the 38th week when we were waiting to deliver the baby. Pregnancy is not an easy thing. Some women die, others lose their babies, and still some die together with their child. So, it doesn’t make sense to pressurize someone into giving birth or stigmatising them for not giving birth,” Dr. Gyedu Owusu stressed.

Way to go

Instead of stigmatising these women and making them feel miserable, Dr. Gyedu Owusu advocates that they should rather be supported. 

“In place of the stigma, support the women with the necessary resources. Advise them to seek medical help, refer them to doctors, and, if you can, pray for them. These are what they really need because already, they are going through a lot,” he posited.

The doctor further encouraged infertile women to resort to other advanced medical intervention such as the IVF, if they can afford. Adoption is also an option, as well as surrogacy, he added.

“Infertility can happen to anyone. It could be you, it could be your daughter, your sister or grandchild. You won’t be happy when you are stigmatised because of infertility. Therefore, do not do it someone now because they find themselves in that situation,” Dr. Owusu cautioned.