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Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

Circle Mom Fertility Foundation has announced that it would offer discounted In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), full sponsorship of IVF and surrogacy to families battling with infertility.

The Founder, Dr. Charles Ojeabuo, made this known on Saturday in Abuja during the launch of the foundation.

Presenting his paper with the theme, “Medical, Legal and Ethical Dimension of Third Party Human Production”, Ojeabuo said the launching of the foundation was about transformation and turning pain into purpose, stigma into strength, and silence into songs of joy.

He stated: “Every couple battling with infertility has a story. It’s either that of shame, silence, stigma, loneliness, emptiness, crying, worthlessness, depression — or all of them. And society beams the light on the woman. She’s the one that faces society because people are calling her names she didn’t give herself — that barren woman, for example.

“Her eyes overflow with tears, asking God questions: “Why me?” All these create a void that only the presence of a child can fill. The Circle Mom Fertility Foundation has been established to fill that void — to make that woman complete, total, free from stigma, shame, and rejection; to turn bitter tears into tears of joy.

“We are gathered here to say to you, husband and wife — you are not alone. We see you, we hear you, and we share in your joy to parenthood.

“To mark this launch, families will receive discounted IVF and surrogacy, and even full IVF sponsorships. Some of you seated here today will walk away with that support.”

Giving the legal perspective on Assisted Reproductive Treatment (ART) and IVF, the guest speaker, Babayemi Olawole urged couples to avoid traditional surrogacy.

He said traditional surrogacy gives the surrogate mother biological rights to the child while gestational surrogacy does not.

According to him, If at all you’re going to pick, ensure you’re going to pick gestational surrogacy, not traditional surrogacy.

Olawole revealed that there is no law permitting anybody to do assisted reproductive technology or third party production in Nigeria.

He stated: “One thing about law is that it gives room for us to explore, and that’s the exploration that we have used, and we have our legal backing. And I will explain to you where the legal backing comes from.

“The Constitution of the federal government is the number one law in this country. It provides for private and family life, which means that every Nigerian has a right to have a private life. However you get that private and family life, it’s not a problem, as long as it follows certain rules and certain guidelines that have been set.

“The Child Rights Act has certain provisions that say that you cannot buy and sell a child. There is always this argument that when you’re doing ART or you’re doing surrogacy, you are buying a child. No! There is the exception to it, and the exception has its foundation in ART and third party production.

“We also have the code of medical ethics in Nigeria, which guides medical professional practitioners on how they should behave with certain conduct expected of them. Lagos is an amazing state, they already have guidelines for ART practice in Lagos, established in 2019.”

Olawole added that couples should avoid the temptation of knowing the surrogate mother, adding that while engaging in third party production, couples must ensure that they sign consent forms with the surrogate mother.

He said consent forms must be signed at the start of the process, during the process constant and at the end of the process.