A member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has joined calls for increased support for women battling infertility.
Daniela Mavis Mathias said although male infertility has been found to be the cause of couples’ failure to conceive, the social burden falls on women.
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This situation, she said, has resulted in many infertile women facing stigma and mental distress due to the high value society places on child birth.
The NDC woman urged policy makers to pass a legislation which will criminalise stigma against barren women.
Ms. Mathias was reacting to President Nana Akufo-Addo’s call on policy makers and healthcare practitioners to help end stigmatisation of women with infertility.
He said the factors that lead to infertility, whether anatomical, endocrinological, genetic or immunological are not ones women wish for themselves.
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“A woman who is infertile risks being treated as an outcast and having her marriage ending. These cases, I believe, are not peculiar to these countries only, but are also representative of the unfortunate situation prevailing on the continent. It must end,” President Akufo-Addo said at the 6th Edition of the Merck Africa Asia Luminary in Accra.
In support, Ms Mathias on Adom FM’s morning show Dwaso Nsem, Thursday said society’s perception about infertility must change.
According to her, the stigma in Ghana is extreme because an infertile woman is seen as a burden to society.
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Ms. Mathias also advised women with fertility issues to either opt for adoption or surrogacy.
Source: Ghana|Adomonline.com|Adwoa Gyasiwaa Agyeman