In Steve Dada's article, “Succor for the infertile couples”, of Friday January 16th 2009 of Thisday, Dr.Tunde Okewale of St-Ives Medical Center, Lagos examined the medical reason for infertility and proposed In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) as the solution. Dr.Tunde Okewale however, failed however, to talk about the “catch”.

In July 9 2002, a black couple, Robert and Deborah Rogers went to a New York IVF clinic because they needed a child. Roberts sperm and Deborah eggs were collected and embryos formed. Next door to them, a white couple Mr. and Mrs. Fasano, were at the clinic for the same purpose. The implantation of embryos was done for both. Trouble began 9 months later when Mrs. Rogers failed to conceive while Mrs. Fasano gave birth to black and white twins. The nurse who did the implantation must have mixed-up the room numbers. Mrs. Fasano received additional embryos from Mr. & Mrs. Rogers. God knows whose embryo the Rogers received. This was the beginning of one of the must heart breaking legal battles in the United States.

The mix-up was obvious thanks to the distinct colour of the twins, but the world was horrified that perhaps thousands of same color IVF mix-ups might have gone undetected. It seems like a desecration of motherhood that mothers should have their kids’ deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) tested to be sure their little ones were really theirs.

IVF lowers us in the animal kingdom. The higher animals naturally abhor behaviors risky to the identification of their offsprings. The mongrel dog does it with any female dog, thus it does not know its offspring. Moving up, the gorilla is more faithful to its partner and knows its’ offspring. Man at the top, has the highest love and care for his offspring. IVF throws into doubt the natural parents of children contrary to human dignity.

Further more, out of every successful IVF child, many living embryos are created, frozen or destroyed. Medical science has ascertained that the embryo is the smallest unit of living human being. I am sure Dr. Tunde Okewale would have shut his embryonic eyes, screaming in terror, if he found himself in a testube inside a freezer or worse still, in the hands of a nurse mistakenly going to a room that is not his mother's. 

 Children are a gift from God. We may not all be able to have them. Those who have should take good care of them, bringing them up to be God fearing and well educated citizens. Those who can’t should take heart, look around them and see many children whose parents have abandoned. I know a woman who adopted three children: a boy and two girls and the kids love her more than if she were their natural mother.

Robot  # 1 | 24.01.2009 04:44

In Steve Dada's article “Succor for the infertile couples” of Friday January 16th 2009 of Thisday, Dr.Tunde Okewale of St-Ives medical center Lagos examined the medical reason for infertility, proposing In vitro fertilization (IVF) as the solution. He failed however, to talk about the “catch”. In July 9 2002, a black couple, Robert and Deborah Rogers went to a New York IVF clinic because they needed a child. Roberts sperm and Deborah eggs were collected and embryos formed. Next door to them, a white couple Mr. and Mrs. Fasano, where at the clinic for the same purpose. The implantation of embryos was done for both. Trouble began 9 months later when Mrs. Rogers failed to conceive while Mrs. Fasano gave birth to black and white twins. The nurse who did the implantation must have mixed-up the room numbers. Mrs. Fasano received the embryo of Mrs. and Mrs. Rogers with hers. God knows whose embryo the Rogers received. This wa...Read the full article.