Chioma Umeha
“l am
blessed with two children, after 19 years of fruitless marriage
and undergoing multiple IVF cycle failures.
At
that time my wife was close to 50 before we had our first children – a set of
twins, comprising a boy and girl. Actually if you see my son, Seun, he looks
like me. We are like identical brothers. By November, he will be eight.”
These
were the words of visibly elated Adejare Akiolu, a Quantity Surveyor, in Lagos,
who told INDEPENDENT that he is now enjoying a new lease of marital life after
his travails with infertility ended.
Akinolu
said; “I got married to my heartthrob, Folake, an Educationist, in 1997. We
tried t
“But, future events
proved us wrong as subsequent tests showed there was a problem and our only
option for becoming parents was IVF treatment.
“It
was then obvious that there are no logical reasons to infertility. Our life’s
focus soon changed toward this one issue.
“After
the initial diagnosis, we embarked on a series of private IVF cycles. The first
appeared to be successful as 16 eggs where fertilised and Folake tested
positive following a pregnancy test two weeks after her implantation. We were
highly jubilant.However, our joy was short-lived, when my
wife began bleeding and the pregnancy was lost.
“But,
we didn’t give up, so we continued through four more cycles none of which were
successful, nor even resulted in a pregnancy. Neither did the huge financial cost
nor the emotional trauma deter us.
“It
was clear to my wife and I that the process is playing an unusual game and each
attempt is likely to succeed as the last.
“Suddenly,
it became a success story at the sixth IVF attempt.My wife became pregnant with
twins and gave birth to two healthy children.”
The
determined couple will hardly forget the experience of the last five years as
their marriage story changed.
Akinolu
and his wife, Folake represent hundreds of thousands of Nigerian couples that
benefit from multiple IVF cycle treatment.
Studies
have shown that most couples fail to have a child with their first IVF cycle;
it is equally true that the chance of having a baby increases the more times
they try. However, statistics shows that about 45 percent of couples who fail
on the first cycle never try a second or third time.
Research has also shown
that though IVF is costly, but it is less expensive when purchased as a
multiple-cycle package than a single package.
In
the quest to reduce the scourge of infertility, specialists are now providing
multiple-cycle packages to maximise couples’ chance for success by giving them
more attempts and a lower cost per cycle.
Multiple-cycle
IVF packages also reflects the position of the World Health
Organisation (WHO) that women below 35 years need to undergo at least two
cycles and those above 35 years should undergo three cycles to improve their
chances of success.
According
to a report of the United Nations (UN) health body, “In women without a history
suggestive of pelvic disease who have not become pregnant after six
appropriately timed insemination cycles, diagnostic laparoscopy should be
undertaken to detect asymptomatic pelvic abnormalities, such as
minor degrees of endometriosis or pelvic adhesions. The method appears to be
effective only in the first six cycles of insemination, the UN body
said. ”
Couples
have been known to have up to 65 per cent success rate after six attempts,
after which the chance of a baby increases with subsequent cycles.
For
IVF success, persistence is the key. Dr Abayomi Ajayi, Medical Director,
Nordica Fertility Center, Lagos, Abuja and Asaba, explained that women under
the age of 40 should be offered at least three IVF cycles, more so if they have
failed to conceive naturally for two or more years.
“The
idea is to increase the chances of having a family, so women are counselled to
continue with the cycles for successful result.”
Couples
are therefore advised to persevere with IVF beyond their first few failed
cycles.
Ajayi
said: “Over 2000 babies have been delivered through IVF and other Assisted
Reproductive Technology (ART) methods. We are trying our best to offer
satisfactory fertility treatment to our clients.”
Nordica
Lagos and its clinics have assisted hundreds of couples challenged with
infertility to have their own children through IVF
Corroborating
the WHO and Dr Ajayi’s recommendations, a report by Advanced Reproductive Care
Fertility, California, USA, said: “Multi-cycle packages maximise your chance
for success by giving you more attempts, and offer a lower cost per cycle.”
Similarly,
WINFertility, New York, US, reported; “Your chances of succeeding on your first
IVF cycle depend on your age and whether you are using your own eggs or using
donor eggs from a young woman, the cause of your infertility, what kind of
treatment your reproductive endocrinologist prescribes, the fertility centre’s
expertise, and luck/fate/divine intervention.
“It’s
not completely controllable by any means, or else everyone would get pregnant
on their first IVF cycle. But there are indicators that may help you plan, and
there are discounted plans to help you manage payment.”
Another
study titled: “Number of Embryos Transferred After In Vitro Fertilization and
Good Perinatal Outcome,” by a group of researchers underscored the advantage of
multiple cycle treatment of infertility.
The
researchers are; Dmitry M. Kissin, MD, MPH, Aniket D. Kulkarni, MBBS, MPH,
Vitaly A. Kushnir, MD, and Denise J. Jamieson, MD, MPH, for the National ART
Surveillance System Group.
Similarly,
UK researchers in a study reviewed the statistics of 156,947 UK women who
received 257,398 IVF between 2003 and 2010.
From
that comprehensive analysis, which included results from both fresh and frozen
embryo transfers, researchers found that the average live birth rate for
couples participating in six IVF cycles was 65.3 per cent.
