Female circumcision causes infertility – Expert

A health expert, Dr. Tope Oyedeji, has warned parents to stop female
circumcision to avoid the health danger associated with the practice.
Oyedeji of the Trinity Maternity Home and Health Centre, Osogbo, Osun
State, gave the warning in an interview with the News Agency of
Nigeria on Saturday.
According to her, the practice can lead to recurrent infertility,
urinary and vaginal infections, chronic pain, fatal haemorrhaging,
epidermic cysts and complications during childbirth.
Oyedeji observed that majority of parents were still circumcising
their female children secretly by removing all or part of the inner
and outer labia and usually the clitoris.
She said that in the process of circumcision, “there is a small hole,
which is left for the passage of urine and menstrual blood.
“The wound is opened for intercourse and childbirth and has adverse
effect in the future.”
Oyedeji added that some parents still wrongly believed that female
genital mutilation through circumcision would reduce women’s sexual
desire.
She said that female genital mutilation was a practice involving
partial or total removal of the external female genital for unknown
medical reasons.
She said that female genital mutilation was usually performed without
anaesthesia by a traditional circumciser using a knife, razor or
scissors not sterilised, which could cause infection to the wound.
According to her, female genital mutilation has been recognised as
harmful and a violation of the fundamental human rights of women.
Oyedeji warned parents to desist from practicing female genital
mutilation, saying the unwholesome practice could lead to a series of
short and long-term physical, mental and sexual health risks.
She explained that genital mutilation had no health benefits, saying
that more 140 million women had been affected globally by this
practice.
The medical practitioner said that more than three million girls were
still at the risk of being subjected to genital mutilation every year, except government and relevant organisations stepped up campaign
against it.