thisday0518

THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015
25
FEATURES
one of the babies
A nurse welcomes new addition to ‘Nordica babies’ in Asaba, Delta State
Dr. Ajayi speaks to entrepreneurs at Standford University...recently
Dr. Ajayi(2nd left) with other speakers at Leland Standford Junior University, United States... recently
PHOTO: SAUL BROMBERGER
“What we want people to do is to be able
to empower them, and remove the stigma
of infertility. 70 to 90 percent of people with
infertility have not done anything wrong,
so why should you be ashamed? And that’s
what we want people to understand: it’s not
because you’ve done anything wrong. It’s
just a medical condition, like people who
have epilepsy, appendicitis, and all kinds
of things, so also is infertility.
I think majority of Nigerians know better
than to stigmatise IVF babies, but I’m sure
there are still some who are still looking at
these children as if they are not normal.
All over the world, over five million babies
have been born through IVF, and they are
all normal babies. My word to prospective
IVF parents is to ‘shine their eyes’ and be
careful. Yesterday, someone shared her
experience with me. They asked her to go
to a ‘mama’ who put aromatic schnapps
and soap together as a concoction for her to
drink. But how can she drink soap? So, she
just paid the money, took the thing and left.
And that’s how people become desperate
and vulnerable and people collect money
from them here and there.
“I know for us as Africans, no matter how
educated we are, we still have some excess
luggage from our culture, upbringing; we
still have some beliefs that are not totally
right. But we’ve been blessed with something
called internet. If I hear your name now, I
Google you, to find out about you,” he says.
For his fears, Ajayi says the industry may
be facing the challenge common to every
thriving industry—low quality. He explains
that there are moves to champion a regulation
to bail out the industry from people who
have no business working there.
“The thing is quality control. There are many
people, but nobody is monitoring anybody.
What are the basic minimum requirements to
do IVF? So, the basic thing that’s left is for
In April, the Stanford
University in the United
States, where Ajayi has
equally had training,
desired to use his success
story to stimulate growth
of entrepreneurship on
the soil of Africa and he
was invited to speak at a
summit
the buyer to beware. We need to be able to
educate the buyer on what to look out for.
If not, people will think all IVF practitioners
in Nigeria are quirks. But the truth is that
people are looking for the cheapest.
“Regulation is not something that one
person can do. But I think we are approaching
that because we now have an association
of fertility and reproductive practitioners.
I hope with time that might snowball into
regulation,” he says with an air of expertise.
Ajayi shares a recent experience that encourages
him to forge ahead in keeping up with
women who needs his service. “Penultimate
Sunday, I felt fulfilled for the first time. I went
to buy some sport things at Spark, because
I wanted to start exercising seriously. As I
was carrying my bag approaching my car, a
young lady approached me shouting ‘Doctor
Ajayi, Doctor Ajayi,’. I was surprised that
she recognised me, because she had only
seen my back. But she said ‘my husband
was the first to sight you’. She was with a
young girl. I had never seen a more brilliant
girl. This girl is about 3; she engaged me
in a discussion and I forgot I was talking
to a young girl. Her facial expressions and
everything was wow. I felt very happy that
God used me and my team to make that
happen. Since Sunday, I’ve been remembering
that young girl, and her smartness. She was
born through IVF at our clinic,” he enthuses.
Now, this University of Lagos graduate,
who lost his parents early in life; moved
in to live with his uncle and grew up in
Lagos like a normal child has become a
pathfinder for many and an ambassador
of his country.
In April, the Stanford University in the
United States, where Ajayi has equally had
training, desired to use his success story to
stimulate growth of entrepreneurship on the
soil of Africa and he was invited to speak
at a summit. “A lot of them were surprised
we could do something like that in Africa,
but the reception was very warm. We had
very interesting discussions. But the most
important thing is I don’t see myself as a
doctor anymore, but as an entrepreneur.
Being a doctor is just one part of it. Being
an entrepreneur is a bigger part of it where
you can provide employment for other people,
and help to shape other people’s future.
It’s a big responsibility and I don’t think
it is one that we should take with levity. I
look at some people who have thousands of
people in their employment – it’s a special
grace, and one should not abuse it,” he says.
Revealingly, Ajayi shares the same office
with his wife as a co-worker at Nordica
Fertility Centre at 116, Norman Williams
Street, Ikoyi, but he says,“my wife works
here. Here we are not husband and wife.
We just do our work and get out.”