TheCable

The Ibidunni Ighodalo Foundation (IIF) says it is set to commence the third phase of the free fertility treatment for couples in Nigeria.

The foundation is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) founded in 2016 to help couples become parents through assisted reproduction.

In a statement on Thursday, the foundation announced that the third cycle of the “40at40” project will commence on July 19, 2022.

Ibidunni, founder of the foundation and wife of Ituah Ighodalo, a senior pastor of Trinity House Church, Lagos, died on June 14, 2020.

The project is organised to honour the wish of the late Ibidunni to offer IVF grants to 40 couples annually.

IVF is a type of assisted reproductive technology used for infertility treatment and gestational surrogacy.

“The Ibidunni Ighodalo foundation (IIF) grant was set up to ensure that those dreams become a reality through giving couples-in-waiting the chance to become parents by assisted reproduction, In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) and other fertility treatments,” the statement reads.

“This initiative is a posthumous realisation of the founder’s wish with her husband, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, championing the cause to ensure that his late wife’s dream is fulfilled. The project, in its third year, customarily commences on Ibidunni’s posthumous birthday anniversary – 19th of July 2022.

“The foundation, in collaboration with renowned fertility medical partners, has administered IVF treatments to 80 recipients since inception.

“Beneficiaries of the first and second cycle have resulted in 10 babies thus far with many others currently undergoing their gestation period.”

Speaking at a media briefing on Wednesday, Ituah Ighodalo, chairman of the foundation, said the successful births included a set of triplets.

‘’We are glad to announce that for the maiden cycle in 2020, we had nine new births, including a set of triplets. For the year 2021, we have a baby already, nine pregnancies, while four are still undergoing treatment,” he said.

Also speaking, Grace Ogunniyi, executive secretary of the foundation, said the organisation is committed to helping couples ease the struggle of becoming parents.

‘’We are hoping to have more babies from the 2021 set and for this new cycle, we’ll like people to also partner with us financially and we are grateful to those who have supported us so far,” she said.

Interested persons can register through the official website of the foundation here.