conceive—was something they embraced wholeheartedly. That support really helped. Q Have you had any personal or family experience with IVF? Not personally. Like many newlyweds, we had a brief wait before conceiving—maybe two or three months. But in our culture, there’s often pressure for pregnancy to happen immediately, so when it doesn’t, people start speculating. That can be stressful. Thankfully, I’ve been blessed with four beautiful children—a boy and three girls—and never had any major issues. Q What do you find most fulfilling about your work? The success—the outcome. After all the anxiety and procedures, seeing a woman return for her pregnancy test and being able to tell her it’s positive is everything. That’s the first big win. Many of these women have never had a positive result before, so it’s a moment of hope. Even if the pregnancy doesn’t go full term, knowing she can get pregnant changes everything. Success, to me, is a live, healthy birth. But before that, even just a positive test brings joy. Q And how do you cope when things don’t go well? There are definitely times when it doesn’t work out. IVF has many stages— stimulation, oocyte retrieval, fertilisation, embryo development, and transfer. Each step crossed is a mini success. If things fail, it’s usually at the implantation stage, and that could be for many reasons. Sometimes the embryo itself is abnormal. Counselling is critical at this stage. The goal is to help the woman not blame herself—thinking it’s because she climbed stairs or did something wrong. We have to reassure her it’s not her fault. Every step matters, and even in failure, there’s something to hold onto. Q Have you contributed to any research in the field of IVF? Yes. One of my weaknesses has been research writing, which I didn’t focus on earlier. However, I have written a paper on oncology and fertility preservation in women. Over the last five years, I’ve focused more on research writing. Currently, there are two papers I’m working on: one on assisted reproductive technologies (ART) guidelines and the regulatory framework in Ghana, and I’m also currently doing another programme in leadership. I hope that once I’m done, the leadership programme will have prepared me well for writing a lot of papers. Q How do you support patients who struggle with fertility? So, fertility patients come in various forms, right? There are some who already have children, some who haven’t been lucky at all. There are some who are wealthy, and some who are very, very poor. Some are single and not in any relationship, and others have been married and separated— some of whom want a new child with a new partner, and so on. They come in various forms and shapes, but you first need to identify where they belong. You identify which category you think they fall into, and then respond appropriately. People often perceive IVF as expensive—and it’s true, because of the items and ingredients that go into the whole process. But once you’ve understood a patient and know where they’re coming from, you respond accordingly. Sometimes you can give discounts, or ask them to do certain things. I’m not going to highlight all of them, but the most important aspect is counselling, which must be part of the whole treatment. 54 The Birthday Journal C O U R AG E O U S
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