The social meaning of infertility in southwest Nigeria.

There has been very little documentation of the social meaning given to infertility in many developing countries, including Nigeria, where the prevalence of infertility is known to be high. We have conducted a number of qualitative studies aimed at exploring socio-cultural issues associated with infertility in Ile-Ife, Southwestern Nigeria. Twenty-five focus-group discussions were held with knowledgeable persons in the rural and urban parts of the community to ascertain their attitudes towards infertility. The results show that community members accord great significance to child-bearing , but, they have incorrect knowledge of the causes and appropriate treatment of infertility. Focus-group participants mentioned several traditional beliefs regarding the causes of infertility from which they derived a variety of traditional and religious methods for its treatment; many affected couples use these methods of treatment, sometimes singly but most often in combination. Orthodox treatments are less often used because of perceptions of the causes of infertility and lack of confidentiality at the treatment centres. Women are more likely to suffer the social consequences of infertility; they suffer physical and mental abuse, neglect, abandonment, economic deprivation and social ostracism as a result of their infertile status. These findings have profound implications for reproductive health and reproductive rights of women in the area. Measures recommended to ameliorate the adverse consequences of infertility in the community include provision of broad reproductive health education and appropriate services; integration of infertility treatment and prevention into primary health care and the traditional system of health care delivery; and programs aimed at the empowerment of women in the area. * This paper was presented at the International Symposium on Health and Reproductive rights organized by the Centre for Advanced Social Science Health held in Lagos, Nigeria in March 1995. It has also been presented at the 4th World Conference on Women held in Beijing, China; at the International Seminar on Reproductive Health organized by the Social Science and Reproductive Network in Ibadan, Nigeria; and more recently at the 15th World Congress on Fertility and Sterility held in Montpelier, France.