PHOTOS: Nigeria Records First Successful Baby From Frozen Egg

Nigeria’s medical sector has recorded the first successful birth of a baby conceived from frozen egg of a 44-year-old woman, who had been barren for 8-years, making it the first in Nigeria and West Africa.

Vanguardnews reports that the birth and conception of the baby, Tiwatope, which is the 5001st in the world, were carried out by Nigerian Fertility Specialists at The Bridge Clinic, where the mother had her eggs frozen using the Vitrification (flash-freezing) process.

Dr. Emmanuel Owie, a fertility physician at the hospital said the birth of the baby on February 16th, 2016 has put the country on the global map as regards the practice of oocyte (egg) freezing or cryopreservation, a new offering in the In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) space.

Dr. Owie also said before the birth of the baby, the new practice seemed to be an exclusive preserve of the developed world of Europe and North America.

”Tiwatope’s mother had her eggs frozen for 2-months, using the Vitrification, also known as flash-freezing process. This is the cutting edge technology in Cryobiology, where the eggs or oocytes of a woman is dehydrated and the water content is replaced with ‘anti-freeze’ solution (cryoprotectants) before freezing. This will prevent the information of ice crystals which could destroy the cell.

We fertilized the eggs using a standard technique known as Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) to overcome the egg shell which normally gets hardened with freezing. The fertilized egg was subsequently transferred into her womb, resulting in the pregnancy with Tiwatope. She had her antenatal care in her family hospital and delivered the baby boy through Caesarian Section,” the doctor said.

Dr. Emmanuel also added that egg freezing process was particularly recommended for women diagnosed with cancer who may likely become infertile during chemotherapy. Secondly, women with an early menopause. Thirdly, women who want to delay child-bearing in order to pursue some personal goals and lastly, women with objections to storing frozen embryo for religious and/or moral reasons.