The Problem and causes of Infertility in Africa

 The Problem and causes of Infertility in Africa .    In Africa Infertility causes great problem between couples, especially for the women. Medical evidence shows that men and women usually have the same rates of infertility. Yet African tradition have it that infertility is always the woman’s fault.

The assumption that the wife is at fault may also lead to polygamy. As one African woman wrote: “To appease a childless husband, and desperate to save their daughter’s marriage, the parents of the infertile woman sometimes purchase him a second wife. If they can’t afford to do so, they offer a younger sister or niece as a second wife. Some of my relatives have done that.

it is taboo to discuss male infertility In Africa ; that is something “to be concealed at all costs.” In Zimbabwe, for instance, “Covering up for men is usually done through a traditional practice called chiramu which involves the clandestine bringing-in of the husband’s close relative (usually a brother) to impregnate the wife.”2 If that meeting is not successful, then it is concluded that the wife is to blame3 and should be sent back to her parents.

The wife is obliged to protect the dignity of her husband. Yet nobody protects her, not even her own family. In my opinion, this is deceptive and destructive for all the parties involved.

Types and Causes of Infertility

Primary infertility

this is the state of couples who cannot have babies at all. This is usually measured by failure to achieve pregnancy after two years of trying. A 2008 study found a 2.7 percent primary infertility rate among women in an urban area of Tanzania. The authors said this “is in the range found throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.”5 Secondary infertility describes couples who have had one child but are unable to have more. This condition is very common in Africa, according to a 2011 report from the World Health Organization (WHO):

Women in the developing world, particularly Africa, suffer from high rates of secondary infertility. Countries in northern Africa, Southern Asia, and Latin America all report a high prevalence of secondary infertility ranging from 15% to greater than 25%, but in the so-called “infertility belt” of Sub-Saharan Africa, the percentage of couples with secondary infertility exceeds 30% in some countries, and in Zimbabwe, it has been reported that almost 2 out of 3 women over the age of 25 are infertile.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are the main causes of infertility in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Gabon, it is reported that 32 percent of women are infertile, almost entirely as a result of blocked fallopian tubes caused by STIs such as gonorrhea and chlamydia.

Poverty and substandard medical care often aggravate this problem. As one report noted, “in Africa most of the sexually transmitted diseases which  causes infertility could be prevented or cured but are not because health services are not adequate, accessible, or affordable.”8 A study in Zimbabwe, for example, found that tubal blockages were the main cause of infertility in both men and women—“the result of delayed or inadequate treatment of reproductive tract infections (RTIs).”

Another aggravating Causes of Infertility is early-age sexual intercourse. In some regions of Africa, girls often marry early, sometimes even before puberty. Elsewhere, because of poverty, many girls accept gifts—often financial—from older men to “play sex.” This places the girls at high risk for STIs and other reproductive problems.10 Also, the African practice of female circumcision may lead to infertility by causing infections, pelvic inflammation, and inelastic scar tissue.

Inadequate semen is another major cause of infertility.

hormonal dysfunction, endometriosis, and polycystic ovarian disease also cause of infertility. . Sexual dysfunction is another factor; it is often caused by psycho-social pressure from those around an infertile couple.14 The aging process, of course, also affects fertility. As one expert noted, “Female fertility has a ‘best-before date’ of 35, and for men, it is probably before age 45-50.”15

A 2011 study in Nigeria found that infertile women were significantly more likely than other women to have had abortions. The abortion problem is acute in Africa, where abortions usually are done in poorly equipped health centers by unqualified personnel.

problems of infertility

A married African woman who has no child is living on borrowed time. The first threat in most cases is outright divorce, non-negotiable. She is someone because she is married, but she will be nobody outside marriage. A woman acquires an identity through marriage and, most importantly, when marriage is fertile. If not, she may be returned by the husband to her parents at any moment, in disgrace and shame. The husband considers himself wronged and deceived, as if the woman and her parents should have known beforehand that she could not bear children.19 To me, this is sheer insanity. Often, nobody takes the time to examine the couple in order to find the source of infertility.