A Look at Various Ways People Deal with Barrenness

Introduction

The desire to have a child is a basic human urge. The innate desire to propagate ones species is culture driven. Having children in most cases is associated with a number of social pressures. For example, after marriage, family and friends expect that the couple would start a family. Moreover, there is the desire to have ones heir who would inherit family property. In many societies, there is the feeling of children being a blessing whereas none thereof a curse. In most cases, women who are incapable of bearing children as a result of infertility have been divorced or there husbands’ resorted to second marriages. In this essay, I provide an in-depth discussion of some of the responses to infertility.

Responses to Infertility

Adoption is a popular response to infertility in some cultures especially in the western countries but not in others. Many couples who are unable to bear their own children do derive considerable satisfaction from adoption. As such many women who do not want to go through the pregnancy process can be coaxed into carrying the pregnancy to term and giving out the child for adoption rather than aborting them. This is especially so with single unmarried women who feel that carrying the pregnancy to term could destroy their personal lives, or who do not want to be face the disgrace associated with having an illegitimate child. Such babies can be adopted even at prenatal state thus satisfying the desire to rear (Van Balen, Verdurmen & Ketting, 1997).

This may be by the husband (AIH) or by a donor (AID). In AIH the offspring has the gametes from both parents while in AID, the husband is not the real parent. In such a case it is prudent to get the consent of both parties before the procedure is carried out. The husband acquires legal rights and obligations as a natural father.

The records must be kept confidential and are not subject to inspection by anyone except on court orders for good cause. Through the process of artificial insemination, infertile couples who are unable to conceive by natural means are given a chance to beget, bear and even rear their own children (Pfeffer, 1987).

In in-vitro fertilization, the ovum is fertilized and incubated outside the body (in the laboratory). The fertilized blastocyst is then transferred to the uterus. This method and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) were initially undertaken in patients with infertility due to damaged, blocked or absent Fallopian tubes. However, the method has been extended to many other conditions of infertility and even where there are no anatomical abnormalities. This procedure enables people such as married couples with medical problems, single women, homosexuals to have a chance at rearing children (Van Balen, Verdurmen & Ketting, 1997).

This method is used in cases of infertility unrelated to Fallopian tube problems. It is used in conditions of failure of ovum release, ovum pick-up by the fimbria, impaired tubal sperm transport and other similar conditions. Here the ovary is stimulated to produce a large number of oocytes. They are harvested by laroscopic aspiration and inserted into the Fallopian tube along with washed spermatozoa. GIFT procedures bring the oocytes into direct contact with spermatozoa (Palermo, 1992).

Surrogate motherhood means using the womb of another woman to obtain a child because the wife is unable to bear a child. The Warnock Committee (UK) defined surrogacy as “the practice whereby one woman carries a child for another with the intention that the child should be handed over after birth.” Surrogacy enables women who have severe pelvic diseases that are not amenable and even women who do not have the uterus have a chance at rearing children. It is usually a contract that may not be valid since either party may revoke it and then it cannot be reinforced (Ragoñe, 1994).

Conclusion

Conclusively, infertility is a problem that can be responded to through a variety of ways such as surrogacy, adoption, artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization. These procedures not only give a couple a chance at rearing, they also to some extent provide the satisfaction that is associated with having children of your own.