Having decided to make a difference in the lives of couples who are unable to bear children of their own through the natural birth process, by offerin
Having decided to make a difference in the lives of couples who are unable to bear children of their own through the natural birth process, by offering to fund their fertility treatments via her foundation, former beauty queen, Ibidunni Ighodalo through her foundation, the Ibidunni Ighodalo foundation took it up a notch further by hosting the inaugural edition of the Parent-in-Waiting conference on fertility.
The auspicious event which held at the Agip hall of the Muson centre, Onikan, Lagos saw quite a number of couples gather in the hope that their desires to be called parents would finally be realized. The conference which was organized by the Ibidunni Ighodalo foundation owned by the events guru saw about 10 couples selected to be recipients of the 2017 recipients fertility grant out of 381 people who applied for the grant. This was after the initial number was screened down to 100 considering that at least over N1.3 million is needed to sponsor IVF and other methods of assisted reproductive procedures for a couple.
Founder, Ibidunni Ighodalo, chairman IIF, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo and Chike Ogeah
The conference kicked off with a lecture on infertility: its causes and treatment with members of staff of Roding Reproduction Centre, Lekki, one of the foremost fertility clinics that partners with the Ibidunni Ighodalo foundation, took the audience on a lecture on the causes and treatments of infertility as well as the different processes of IVF and alternatives to having children. Some of the staff who participated in the lecture were the coordinator and counselor of Roding Reproductive Centre, Dr. Margaret Irele; Dr. Femi Olaifa, who spoke on IVF procedures fertility nurse, Mary-Jane Igori who lectured the audience on donor and surrogacy; Mr. Oluwatoyin Ikotun, head of adoption and fostering, Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development who shed light on adoption services in the state; and preacher and sex educator, Ruth Essien.
There was an interactive session where the staff of Roding Reproductive Centre took time to answer the audience’s pertinent questions while also debunking certain myths associated with infertility. This was followed shortly after by a series of monologues presented by a seven-member cast that dramatised the trauma faced by couples suffering from infertility.
Pastor Mathew Ashimolowo and Ibidunni Ighodalo
Present at the conference which was hosted by on air personality, Omotunde ‘Lolo 1’ Davies were the founder and Senior Pastor of the Kingsway International Christian Centre, Matthew Ashimolowo, who supported the good cause by offering to sponsor three couples and co-founder Sahara Energy, Tonye Cole, who offered to pay for two other couples bringing the total number to 15. Others who attended the conference were former Delta State commissioner, Chike Ogeah, milliner and founder of John3v3 hats, Eme Akenzua, Maryam Sanusi, one of the wives of the Emir of Kano, HRH Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.
Conceived in 2016, the Ibidunni Ighodalo foundation helps raise awareness on issues pertaining to infertility as well as to provide grants for couples that require fertility treatments such as In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and Intrauterine Insemination
