Health authorities should do more to contain the problem
For a long time, there have been reports that some fertility clinics in the country are harvesting eggs of young girls in exchange for money. Even when the World Health Organisation (WHO) prescribes that egg harvesting, just like blood donation, must not be traded for financial gains, a report by ‘Daily Trust’ newspaper has exposed this growing desperation among young women. In many cases, underage victims are coerced into trading their eggs monthly despite medical prescription that no one should have her eggs harvested more than twice a year.
The Plateau State Gender and Equal Opportunity Commission (PLASGEOC) has disclosed that young women in the state are selling their egg cells at a particular hospital. “Young girls now sell their ova to buy expensive phones or fund their lifestyles. If they remove your ovum, they give you either N120,000 or N150,000,” the commission’s spokesperson, Mrs Nene Dung, recently disclosed. “We told students of the danger of such practice and warned them to stop selling their Ova. The problem is rampant not only in communities but in schools.” But this challenge is not restricted to Plateau State. It is a national malaise.
Since the trade in human organs and trafficking in human eggs and human embryos are multibillion dollar businesses, it is no surprise that some Nigerian traffickers are deeply involved. And given the level of economic deprivation in the country, it is also no surprise that there are many willing customers. There have been stories of how some women and girls are usually administered drugs that cause ovarian hyper stimulation to extract their eggs afterwards. There have also been instances where female undergraduates of some Nigerian universities sell their eggs to willing buyers.
The ever growing need to feed the IVF ‘factories’ with embryos has engendered the exploitation of young women for their eggs. There is therefore a need for collaborative efforts by the relevant local agencies, state government, and the international partners in order to tackle this most heinous menace. That some of our medical personnel are being incriminated in this affront against humanity and on our pride as a people is why the health authorities and critical stakeholders should be concerned.
To compound this challenge, there are several reports of substandard services to couples seeking in-vitro fertilisation with some ending up having serious health concerns relating to their procedures. Others have had to pay huge amounts so they can get young, and in many cases pay underage girls to carry their unborn babies. Some buy these babies under the arrangement of fraudulent Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) centres.
In the Nigerian society, fertility is not just about health, it is a serious social issue that requires every attention it deserves. It is estimated that one in four Nigerian couples will have one or more forms of fertility issues. Pressure from the society on childbearing pushes a chunk of these couples to seek artificial reproductive assistance. However, laws and policies are not being developed fast enough to meet the demands of this growing industry; a loophole that has now been taken advantage of by quacks and some otherwise known fertility clinics. Out of desperation, many young women now sell their egg and, in the process, endanger their lives.
The sheer magnitude and sophistication of this human merchandising indicate that for any meaningful breakthrough in the efforts to arrest it, collaborative attempts must be made by governments, non-governmental organisations, corporate bodies and the media. Critical stakeholders can no longer continue to watch from the sidelines while unscrupulous people classify fellow human beings as commodities and benefit from their ignorance, desperation and, sometimes, greed.