The duo of professors Oladapo Ashiru and
Osato Giwa-Osagie have faulted a claim attributing the delivery of
Nigeria’s first in vitro fertilisation baby to Dr. Ibrahim Wada.
The revered professors said the story of
Nigeria’s first IVF baby started in 1986 when a young couple, Mr. Pius
Oni and his wife, Stella, met the then Director of Human In-Vitro
Fertilisation programme at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Prof.
Osato Giwa-Osagie.
Internet sources revealed that Stella,
then 34, had lost her fallopian tubes to bilateral ectopic pregnancies
in 1981, while living in England; and had had tubal surgery in 1982.
She also underwent hysterosalpingogram
(an X-ray test that is often done for women who are having a hard time
becoming pregnant) in 1982, which showed that she had bilateral blocked
tubes.
Before
meeting Giwa-Osagie, Stella had undergone two IVF treatments at
separate times in Bourn Hall Clinic and also at St. Mary’s Hospital in
Manchester.
Ashiru said when she came to LUTH, Stella underwent baseline pre-IVR evaluation, and was accepted for IVF treatment in LUTH.
He said, “Stella was registered in the IVF clinic on March 30, 1988, and she underwent IVF treatment between May and June 1988.
“We placed her on Clomiphene Pergonal
injection to stimulate her ovaries and later on Human Chorionic
Gonadotrophin. A Chief Technologist in the Department of Obstetrics and
Gynaecology laboratories, Mr. Ayo Sanyaolu, monitored her follicular
development, using serial hormone assays.
“Prof. Giwa-Osagie did the serial cervical mucus assessment, while I evaluated her husband’s semen.
“Stella was admitted to Ward B2 at LUTH
on June 3, 1988, and on the 6th, eggs were retrieved from her and
fertilised, using her husband’s semen. On June 9, three embryos were
transferred into her uterus, and she was placed on Progesterone
supplements by intramuscular injection and orally. She was discharged on
June 14.
“Her pregnancy was confirmed in July 1988
through the urine pregnancy test. However, fearing a possible
stigmatisation because of the myths surrounding IVF then, she delivered
her baby abroad on March 17, 1989; and she brought him to LUTH on March
26, 1989 to show the family’s appreciation to LUTH, Ashiru and
Giwa-Osagie. The boy weighed 2.5kg at birth and was named Olushina
Eghosa Oluwaremilekun.”
Ashiru said Oluwaremilekun’s birth was
the proof of his and Giwa-Osagie’s expertise in pioneering the research
into IVF treatment in Black Africa.
In a telephone conversation with our
reporter, however, Ibrahim Wada said he had no intention to “overshadow
anyone;” and that it was the media that decided the headlines they
wanted.
Acknowledging Ashiru and Giwa-Osagie, the
physician said the two professors had done much pioneering works on IVF
in the 80s, long before he and his team came into the scene.
Wada added, “The difference here is that
there was a third party verification of our feat, as the then Minister
of Science and Technology, Gen. Sam Momah, inaugurated a three-man
committee comprising professors Salako, Dada and Otubu, to investigate
our claims.
“The committee visited our laboratory at
the Nisa Premier Hospital, then in Gwagwalada, and reported its findings
to the minister, who, in turn, reported to the Head of State, Gen Sani
Abacha.
“It was the first IVF delivery in Nigeria but definitely not the first IVF pregnancy conceived in Nigeria.”
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