Experiences of female clients in the assisted reproductive technology process in Nigeria.

Background: Though assisted reproductive technology (ART) has been a source of hope for many infertile couples, it is known to be associated with physical, social, psychological, and ethical challenges in different settings. Objective: The study objective was to explore the experiences of female clients who accessed services in ART clinics in Nigeria. Methods: An exploratory qualitative design, using snowballing technique was employed. It involved in-depth interviews of eight women who had gone through the assisted conception process, using an interview guide. Data collection was from November 2019 to January 2020. Results: The age range of the participants was 30 - 52 years with a mean of 41.88 years. Majority of the clients presented at advanced age to their ART providers because of lack of funds and ignorance. Other challenges were suboptimal risk disclosure, high cost of services, feelings of shame and stigmatization during and after the process. Conclusion: Cost of ART remain unaffordable to most Nigerians hence the need for government subsidization and in-corporation of ART services into the National Health Insurance Scheme. Additionally, lack of adequate information disclosure, shared decision-making and gendered suffering are areas of great concern among the study participants. A national regulatory guideline will ensure uniform international standard of care.

Perception of Key Ethical Issues in Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) by Providers and Clients in Nigeria.

PURPOSE: In the past decade, developments in the field of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) have intensified the hopes and the desires of infertile people to overcome infertility, resulting in an increasing demand for such services worldwide. However, as developments in ART have evolved rapidly, so have ethical, social, and political controversies surrounding many aspects arisen. It is known that societal ethics is dependent on the values and culture of a given group. We sought to explore how practitioners and clients in Nigeria perceive some Key ethical issues surrounding ART. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was an explorative descriptive study involving in-depth interview of three ART providers and eight female ART clients, all domiciled in Southeastern Nigeria. Sampling was by purposive and snowballing techniques for providers and clients, respectively. Ethical approval was obtained from University of Ibadan/University College Hospital and University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Research Ethics Committees. Responses were grouped into themes for ease of discussion. RESULTS: Providers and clients were in support of sex selection for family balancing, and multiple embryo transfers. They also perceive that the health of the woman should be the factor considered and not biological age for service provision. However, views differed on marital status as an access factor. Participants were in support of legally binding regulations to guide practice. CONCLUSION: A culturally sensitive national regulation is recommended to guide practice in this vital area of reproduction.

Rethinking parenthood within assisted reproductive technology: The need for regulation in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, reproduction is highly valued, with many people desiring to produce a child 'in their own image and likeness'. Previously, aspiring parents often resorted to adoption. Today, the availability of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) has provided options other than adoption for those desiring to procreate. Through ARTs, aspirations for a family may be attained through an exchange of reproductive goods and services, and not necessarily through traditional heterosexual relationships. ARTs have altered the perception of parenthood as it exists in Nigeria, and courts face a difficult task in defining parenthood within Nigerian jurisprudence, as they can only adjudicate based on extant law. Although ARTs provide greater individual choices for fulfilling the desire to procreate, they raise a number of ethical and legal issues that evolving legal systems, such as that in Nigeria, are ill-equipped to manage. This paper describes the traditional assignment of parenthood under indigenous laws and other sources of law within the Nigerian jurisprudence. We carried out an in-depth study of the Nigerian legislative framework and found that there are no laws directly regulating parenthood, procreation and ARTs in Nigeria. We also found that the extant laws are only tangentially related and do not answer the relevant questions sufficiently well, especially concerning succession, nationality and assignment of responsibility in collaborative reproduction. We conclude by highlighting the need for and recommending a regulatory framework on ARTs with a particular focus on providing a definition for parenthood achieved through ARTs in Nigeria.

Parenthood: Is the law in Nigeria fit for assisted reproductive technology?

This paper examines the legal aspects of parenthood and how it is, or could be, determined in Nigeria given the wide popularity and uptake of assisted reproductive technology (ART). It aims to establish whether the existing national laws can sufficiently protect the interests of the child who is born and of the consumers, with an emphasis on the determination of the status of the parents. It also identifies problems and proposes solutions with regard to the specific issue of establishing legal parenthood following the use of ART, either with or without state regulation. The paper concludes by recommending specific ART legislation that could help solve the problems, and advises Nigerian law-makers to pay attention to statutes from other jurisdictions as a guide.

Translating biotechnology to knowledge-based innovation, peace, and development? Deploy a Science Peace Corps--an open letter to world leaders.

Scholarship knows no geographical boundaries. This science diplomacy and biotechnology journalism article introduces an original concept and policy petition to innovate the global translational science, a Science Peace Corps. Service at the new Corps could entail volunteer work for a minimum of 6 weeks, and up to a maximum of 2 years, for translational research in any region of the world to build capacity manifestly for development and peace, instead of the narrow bench-to-bedside model of life science translation. Topics for translational research are envisioned to include all fields of life sciences and medicine, as long as they are linked to potential or concrete endpoints in development, foreign policy, conflict management, post-crisis capacity building, and/or peace scholarship domains. As a new instrument in the global science and technology governance toolbox, a Science Peace Corps could work effectively, for example, towards elucidating the emerging concept of "one health"--encompassing human, environmental, plant, microbial, ecosystem, and planet health--thus serving as an innovative crosscutting pillar of 21(st) century integrative biology. An interdisciplinary program of this caliber for development would link 21(st) century life sciences to foreign policy and peace, in ways that can benefit many nations despite their ideological differences. We note that a Science Peace Corps is timely. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations released the Fifth Assessment Report on March 31, 2014. Worrisomely, the report underscores that no person or nation will remain untouched by the climate change, highlighting the shared pressing life sciences challenges for global society. To this end, we recall that President John F. Kennedy advocated for volunteer work that has enduring, transgenerational, and global impacts. This culminated in establishment of the Peace Corps in 1961. Earlier, President Abraham Lincoln aptly observed, "nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." We therefore petition President Barack Obama, other world leaders, and international development agencies in positions of power around the globe, to consider deploying a Science Peace Corps to cultivate the essential (and presently missing) ties among life sciences, foreign policy, development, and peace agendas. A Science Peace Corps requires support by a credible and independent intergovernmental organization or development agency for funding, and arbitration in the course of volunteer work when the global versus local (glocal) value-based priorities and human rights intersect in synergy or conflict. In all, Science Peace Corps is an invitation to a new pathway for competence in 21(st) century science that is locally productive and globally competitive. It can open up scientific institutions to broader considerations and broader inputs, and thus cultivate vital translational science in a world sorely in need of solidarity and sustainable responses to the challenges of 21(st) century science and society.

Ethical and Legal Issues in Biobanking for Genomic Research in Nigeria.

The pursuit of genomic research and biobanking has raised concerns and discussions about the ethical and legal implications. Given the specific challenges that surround such enterprise in low and middle income countries, it is pertinent to examine them in the light of the advent of Biobanking and Genomic research in Nigeria. In this paper I discuss the issues and suggest model solutions derived from advanced jurisdictions. These ethical and legal issues are discussed within the context of the legal system of a typical African country whose jurisprudence derives from that of its erstwhile colonial master, the United Kingdom. This includes issues relating to law and human rights, informed consent, native and customary law.