Chairman, Board of the Institute of Fertility Medicine, Prof. Adetokunbo Fabamwo, has urged couples who had not explored the option of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) to do so, adding that the initiative is capable of restoring fertility hope for women who are even in their sixties.

“I will like to emphasise that Assistive Reproductive Technology is the way to go now. As I speak, there shouldn’t be any barren couple again because a woman of 60 years can even have a baby through a technologically assisted medical arrangement,” Prof. Fabamwo stated.

He spoke at press conference held on Tuesday held at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja.

He commended the founder of Bridge Clinic, Dr. Richardson Ajayi, for his willingness to partner with LASUTH to offer ART at a discounted rate for low-income earners as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of the Bridge Clinic.

Speaking during the press conference, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of LASUTH, Prof. Adewale Oke, explained that the rationale behind the initiative was to give hope to women who had hitherto been rejected as a result of infertility.

He disclosed that the partnership with Bridge Clinic, Nigeria’s foremost fertility clinic, has in the last six years resulted in 74 live births through ART.

The CMD, who was represented by the Director of Clinical Services & Training, LASUTH, Dr. Adedokun Ayoade, said that the hospital is specifically increasing the access of the low-income earners into the ART treatment through discounted fee, as a Corporate Social Responsibility platform of the partners in reaching out to the less privileged in the society.

He said that LASUTH can now boast of consultants and doctors who can successfully handle the entire process of ART except for the growing of the embryo, stressing that the future target of the hospital is to be able to handle the entire ART process without the assistance of any external partners.

He said: “Apart from the plan of autonomous operations, we are also considering a drastic reduction in the cost of ART from its current amount through continuous improvement processes.”