The latest lucrative business in Ghana, sperm donation is the order of the day as most men will do anything apart from internet fraud, armed robbery and other social vices in order to survive. The survival of the fittest, one must survive in the Capital city Accra where the standard of living is expensive, rent, utility bills, fees and feeding is costly.
Due to unemployment, low wages and lack of a supportive system, the youth tend to engage in various activities in order to fend for themselves, Ghana as a country lacks structures and systems to efficiently protect and provide for the citizenry especially the youth. In the Ghanaian parlance Obra ne woara bo meaning one making it in life depends on his/her own actions and inactions and no one can make your life better than yourself.
Donation or selling of sperms in the Western countries is no new thing but money making venture, Interestingly this new business is taking shape in the country as most men whether young or old are earning cool cash from the sale of their sperms to aid couples suffering from male infertility, single women and others to make healthy babies and for other purposes.
A Ghanaian man told www.adwoaadubianews.com team that he earned 30,000 cedis for two donations of sperms, another man disclosed that he received 20,000 from the sale of his sperms that he used in paying his fees and settling other debts. This is a new business but very rewarding he added.
Apart from helping others making healthy babies with the aid of modern technologies such as vitro fertilization and surrogacy that is operated within a regulated space, Are the psychological issues, our beliefs, customs and norms as a country been factored in the practice referred to as Assistant Reproductive Technologies (ARTs).
Our culture as a country defines us and with the practice of Assistant Reproductive Technologies in the country, do agents or fertility centers that recruit men and women for donations consider counselling and agreement as an important aspect of the practice.
Ghanaian men take pride in their progenies’ thereby having more children as a man is a source of prestige and most men will go every length to claim the ownership of their children no matter the years of detachment or absence from their kids’ lives.
Men in most tribes in Ghana believe that their children are their possessions and inheritance no matter who raised them, under what circumstances, which country they are, their age and will make a point to claim their possessions when they want to and won’t factor any agreement at that point.
Fortunately, the Parliament of Ghana has commenced processes to pass a law that will regulate the use of modern technologies that aids in childbirth which is a step in the right direction, apart from the laws that is yet to be enacted, the psychological issues and the cultural setting that is likely to result in unfavorable outcomes, how will that be dealt with.
Are donors ready for the psychological aspect of them knowing that they sold their children to other couples and that they are legally no more theirs, or the cultural belief that children are a man’s possessions though but he can’t claim or demand to see his child one day because he agreed to sell his sperm earlier on.
More so,will couples who agree or consider assistance from other men and women to have babies of their own not see these donors as a threat who can wake up one day and claim their children even though they agreed earlier on to terms and conditions. Do most Ghanaians consider agreement is an important factor when it comes to their children?
Surprisingly there is a directory with the list of companies by tag sperm donation where members of the society who are ready to donate sperms and eggs can easily go. There are various websites that are recruiting men and women who are ready to donate sperms or eggs, this is an indication that Sperm and egg trading has come to stay but Ghana as a country is not ready for some of the problems that may arise relating to donors and children beneficiaries.
One man who spoke to www.adwoaadubianews on the condition of anonymity shared his fears that he helped an ex-girlfriend who discovered five years after marriage that the husband suffered from male infertility. This is was agreed on by both partners before he donated his sperms. He indicated that he did that to make the ex-girlfriend happy in order for her to have a baby of her own.
But after delivery of the baby, he found out that the baby had a tribal mark of him just like his own kids. As he monitored the child grow, the child exhibited certain characteristics and traits of him just as his own children. This new development haunted him to a point where he nearly confessed to the wife about this child. What is the guarantee that this man won’t claim this child one day? A clear example of a psychological and cultural issue with sperm donation in Ghana. An agreement about a man’s child is not really important at a point but how to own the child.
Presently, there is no framework backing the practice and hospitals and individuals are left to do as they choose, creating room for future backlash. The trading of sperm and egg in various hospitals and fertility centers will continue unabated and Ghana as a country and Parliament as the law making institution must be swift and firm as the process of passing laws to regulate the use of modern technologies to aid childbirth has begun.
The future outcomes of sperm donation must be considered as an important issue and debated on extensively as Parliament of Ghana has started the processes of passing a law to regulate the use of modern technologies that aids in childbirth.
Youngman, as a matter of fact consider your emotions, ego and religion as you keep selling your sperms today same as the young woman. Be guarded by the terms and conditions of every sperm or egg you sell now.
Kindly don’t wake up one day and make questionable demands or rantings. If you are not sure of what you are doing today, then seek the assistance of a professional counsellor because you can’t eat your cake and have it.
To be continued…………..
By Adwoa Adubia
