Hardship: In-Vitro Fertilisation Booms As Akwa Ibom Youths Sell Blood Sperm, Eggs To Survive

To cope with the current economic hardship in the country, undergraduates and other youths in Akwa Ibom State have resorted to selling blood for cash.

Others are also donating sperm and eggs for cash at several In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) centres in the state to infertile couples and single women who desperately want children.

These “businesses” from LEADERSHIP findings are booming in many public and private hospitals.

A senior medical consultant, who would not want his name in print, said the practice of selling blood, sperm and eggs to willing buyers has become so rampant amongst the youthful population, especially university students.

He said, “Many of the young people selling these vital resources from their system do so because times are really hard. Some of the students can’t pay their fees because most have lost their parents, some have retired and some are funded by single mothers with no meaningful job or trade.

“But what we have discovered in some cases is shocking, but good for them because many would come here believing that with their healthy look, they are very okay in their system,” he said.

A senior nursing officer running her private clinic in Uyo also told our correspondent that, “When we screened their blood, we discovered that many don’t even know their health status because they have remained without regular health checks and tests. Many were found to have been infested with different ailments, such as HIV/AIDS and others have symptoms of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs).

“So, what we do in such cases is to keep them aside for counselling, advising them to pass through the anti-retrovirus regime because the drug and the treatment are free.

“Many of them would break down, but we will counsel them that such ailments don’t kill people any more, provided one can imbibe the drug administration regime.”

LEADERSHIP learnt that these worrisome trends dominated the Catholic Bishops in Nigeria conference, where the clergymen condemned what they described as “the growing abuse of IVF treatments in the country” and called on the federal government to “quickly regulate fertility clinics to safeguard the citizens from exploitation and health risks.”

At the opening ceremony of the Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), hosted at the Catholic Diocese of Ikot Ekpene in Obot Akara local government area of the state, the forum noted that “the practice is rampant across Nigeria.”

Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji expressed concern over the proliferation of fertility clinics, many of which, he said, were operated by unqualified and unlicensed practitioners, pointing out that “this has exposed clients to financial exploitation, severe medical complications, permanent infertility, and in some cases, death.

“This situation urgently calls for the government’s regulation and ethical guidelines,” Archbishop Ugorji stressed.

He lamented the moral implications of IVF practices, particularly what he described as “the commodification of human life.”

The eminent cleric hinted that “even university students now sell their eggs and sperm to fertility centres in exchange for money,” a trend the church views as morally unacceptable.

“It is important to draw attention to the teaching of the church, which considers IVF greatly immoral,” he noted, adding that “apart from its separation of the unitive and procreative aspects of the marital act, the church insists that each human being and each human embryo has an inherent dignity and right to life.

“Any practice that commodifies or disposes of embryos, or uses them for experimentation, is gravely wrong,” he said.