Families have been urged not to put the social burden of infertility on only women as male infertility accounts for a significant portion of the problem. According to Dr. Nana Henaku Larbi, a Fertility Specialist with the Medifem Multi-Specialist Hospital & Fertility Centre, society must move away from blaming only women for childlessness and urge couples to seek medical solutions together.

“When you look at all infertility cases, 40% are due to underlying health issues with the man, 40% with the woman, 10% a combination of factors from both man and woman and a 10% proportion due to very extreme scenarios which we sometimes call “unexplained reasons”. Unfortunately, most men assume that they are fine and healthy and would normally push only the woman to go and seek solutions.

Society also compounds this problem by blaming women only when there is a problem with childbirth. That is most unfortunate. The perception that infertility problems are due to issues with the woman only is not correct. What we must do is advise couples to seek solutions together” Dr. Henaku Larbi said.

Dr. Henaku-Larbi gave this advice when he spoke to journalists on the sidelines of a seminar organized by Live, Move, Have Your Being, a not-for-profit organization in collaboration with Mahogany Consult, a Public Relations and Event Management firm to educate, inform and counsel families going through fertility and pregnancy-related challenges in Ghana.

Under the theme “assisted conception” the seminar which took place at the Victory Presby Church in Adentan had Canon Samuel Nii Lanquaye Lamptey, Priest-in Charge at the Accra Ridge Church sharing the Biblical point of view on the topic and Maria Agozie a Chartered insurer sharing her real life experience as someone who went through challenges with childbirth.

The experienced fertility practitioner further advised men to be conscious of certain lifestyle practices as they may have consequences for the strength of their sperms.

“The testes hang outside the body for a reason. It is because the action in there demands a temperature lower than that of the body. Unfortunately, most of us do wrap up so tight in underwear and briefs throughout the day giving the place a hotter temperature than required. This, when done for a long time, has adverse effect for the production of strong sperms. As much as possible all men must allow their testes to hang freely by wearing loose underwear. At home, if you can, avoid wearing underwear completely We overlook these things but they are the very little factors that affect us in the long run”, Dr. Henaku-Larbi added.

Available data indicate that at least 50 million couples worldwide experience infertility.

In Ghana, the social burden of infertility in many cultures is placed on women with most childless women having to suffer stigmatization and discrimination in most societies.