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nathalie dhont

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If our mission is to help couples plan when and how much children they want, what about couples who are unable to bear children?

Why not include infertility management in the family planning programs? Imagine there is a relative cheap and simple way of treating these infertile couples, is there any argument against helping childless couples in resource-poor countries?

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    Fritzie Reisner 100+

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    Nov 28 2012: Are you aware of cheap and simple ways of treating infertility? I was under the impression that these treatments are extremely expensive.

    You might ask whether adoption could be part of the mix in a place with many orphaned children.

    • nathalie dhont

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      Nov 28 2012: adoption could be one of the options but having a child remains a very deep desire. It just surprises me how the problem of infertility is completely ignored in the resource poor countries, it is a very prevalent problem, causing enormous suffering. Access to family planning (=contraceptives) is a very important aim if we want to improve lives of many women and couples all over the world but for those who cannot have any children family planning is also necessary, family planning in the true sense of the word: planning a family. Even if fertility treatment is expensive (although it might become much cheaper) at least people could receive investigations and counseling in the family planning clinics. it would be a much more humane and patient-friendly way of delivering family planning in developing countries and it might turn out to make contraceptives much more acceptable as well.
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        Fritzie Reisner 100+

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        Nov 28 2012: If you are investigating this with an eye toward action, I strongly suggest you look into the cost of treatment at the start and also consider whether it improves the quality of life to be counseled as to options one cannot afford and that will not be subsidized.

        Do you have any data to support your statement that infertility is a very prevalent problem in the developing world? I had thought infertility was much more of a problem in cultures in which families delay having a family until the potential mother is older than prime child-bearing years. But then, I know next to nothing about this.

        Are you counting among these cases that involve enormous suffering a mother who already has several kids but would like more?

        • nathalie dhont

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          Nov 29 2012: I do know something about the subject since I made a doctoral thesis on this. Prevalence is between 8 en 20 %, as much as and in some regions higher then western world, problem is infections and bad health care leading to blocked tubes. As you mention it , there is no awareness about the problem in global community, that is a shame!

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