IBIDUNNI IGHODALO’S JOURNEY THROUGH INFERTILITY

“An Aunt of mine came to the house,…I love dogs, I love puppies and at (that) time my puppy had 15 puppies so I was just looking after them. She comes into the house and she says, ‘NO WONDER YOU’RE NOT CONCERNED ABOUT HAVING KIDS WHEN YOU’RE BUSY BREEDING DOGS’; those things were so hurtful” – (Late Mrs Ibidunni Ighodalo, Trinity House Lagos, Nigeria)

The above statement is just one of the many stigmatization, Ibidunni Ighodalo encountered from her family, in-laws, friends, some unintentional but quite sensitive for a woman trusting God for the fruit of the womb. According to her, the naysayers subtly told her what to expect at the early stage of her marriage to Pastor Ituah Ighodalo whom she married in 2007.
In her words, “we all know Pastor Ituah was married before, so they had already started telling me, ‘he was married before and he didn’t have kids so be ready that same thing is going to happen to you’ and I thought to myself you can’t say that to me; that in itself started putting me under a bit of pressure.”

Ibidunni’s infertility was due to blocked tubes resulting from an infection after an appendectomy at the age of 16, though she underwent several unsuccessful surgeries to open the tubes, before she finally opted for IVF. She had 11 failed IVFs over 11 years, although the last one was successful, but she miscarried the twins in the first trimester. She finally decided to use her pain coupled with the roller coaster emotional, financial and psychological effects she felt during that period to put smiles on other expectant mothers.
She recollects having a one-on-one session with God on her 35th Birthday and heard God telling her, “to go ahead and help as many people as she could while she waits.” That was her turning point with a revelation behind her name, ‘IBIDUNNI’: sweet to give birth, sweet to have.

With that assurance from God, she went on to set up Ibidunni Ighodalo Foundation in 2016 to provide spiritual, financial and educational support to couples searching for the fruit of the womb via awareness on issues pertaining to infertility and to provide grants for couples that require fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intrauterine insemination. In 2016, she and her husband provided funds to 28 couples who required fertility treatment. By 2017, they were able to support 16 couples with the grant with each treatment ranging from N2 million ($4,210) to N4 million ($8,420) depending on the complexity.
In 2018, an anonymous couple who was celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary paid for the IVF treatments of 20 couples. As at 2018, the foundation had recorded a set of twin girls and a girl born through the assisted medical procedure.