Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Gladys Boss Shollei has pledged to push fore the lowering of the cost of IVF treatment in the country.
The cost of InVitro Fertilisation in Kenya ranges from Sh430,000 to Sh480,000.
While speaking during the one-year anniversary celebration of the Myra IVF Medical center in Nairobi, Shollei said that the disproportionate burden of fertility is placed on women.
"The world shames the childless. In Kenya, it is directed most heavily towards women. So if you don't have a child, then you are ostracised by our society," she said.
The deputy speaker said that she joins hands with all those who are having challenges of fertility.
"We still work towards ensuring that government is able to make the cost of IVF much lower," she said.
Shollei said this will involve a push to have the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to cover the sum of IVF treatment to avert cases of people going through pain to have children.
"Miscarriage is the most common complication of pregnancy with many as one in five pregnancies making it to term," she said.
Shollei said that is a statistic that nobody ever talks about and that more needs to be done to normalise the fertility and infertility conversation.
She said that former US First Lady Michelle Obama also struggled with childbearing and IVF treatment.
"By the time she was in her mid 30s, she had a growing awareness that the biological clock ticking is for her. Egg production was limited, so she sought IVF treatments from a fertility doctor," she said.
Shollei said Michelle also went through the journey partly alone because her husband was at the state legislature, leaving her largely on her own to manipulate her reproductive system to peak efficiency.
"Eventually, she became pregnant, first with Malia, and next with Sasha," she said.
Shollei said the procedure helps many women to have children and thus, it should be made as affordable as possible.
