Dr. Joseph Kafuuma, a fertility specialist at Women’s Hospital International and Fertility Center, has advised women to have children before clocking 35, saying the chances of bearing children beyond that age are minimal.
Dr. Kafuuma made the remarks during an interview with James Onen, The Fatboy show presenter, about infertility affecting 10-15 percent of Ugandan couples.
Dr. Kafuuma explained that infertility is a disease affecting the reproductive system, just like other ailments that affect bodily systems. Fortunately, he noted several solutions and medical procedures available to overcome infertility through both medical and surgical procedures.
He attributed the common causes of infertility to conditions such as obesity, eating a lot of junk, and age women.
“Women's fertility levels reduce with age, and beyond 35, the rate at which fertility depreciates in a woman is very rapid,” said Dr. Kafuuma, who added that after some women click 35, they run out of eggs in their ovaries and become unable to conceive.
“A woman is born with eggs she will have her entire life. It’s like being given an account of 100 million shillings when you can only withdraw but not deposit. But men are a bit lucky because they can withdraw and deposit at the same time,” the doctor said.
He affirmed that infertility affects both genders with slight differences in percentage. He quoted findings from the Ministry of Health indicating that women affected by infertility are 55 percent, slightly higher than males at 45 percent.
He highlighted a misconception among people that infertility is a curse, something spiritual or related to witchcraft. "They don’t look at it as a disease, yet it is a disease with notable causes and solutions that are available depending on the cause,” he clarified.
Dr. Kafuuma says that treatments differ depending on the conditions. The most common include laparoscopic surgery, Induced ovulation, and timely sexual intercourse for women with irregular periods. Plus, Intra-Uterine insemination for women who can't conceive because their partners have low sperm counts.
According to Dr. Kafuuma, some men suffer from an absence of sperms, low sperm count, high mortality levels of sperm, and male morphology (abnormal sperm structure).
Other causes are varicose veins or the enlarged blood vessels around the testicles, exposing the scrotum to high levels of heat, inadequate exercise, and in some rare cases, an empty scrotum that makes a man unable to make a woman pregnant due to lack of sperm.
He, therefore, advised women to check the testicles of their babies to feel whether they are not empty because the condition can only be solved when a child is below the age of 2.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive, and Sarah every weekday from 6 am to 10 am on RX Radio.