Childless No Longer: Addressing Infertility and Miscarriage in Jordan
AMMAN, Jordan — Six years ago Sana and her sister were wedded on the same day to two brothers. This in not an uncommon practice in Jordanian traditional societies, where weddings solidify family bonds and where women are often expected to bear and have children within the first year of marriage.
Her sister’s first pregnancy was right on schedule. But over the next five years Sana endured three consecutive miscarriages, but no live births.
Sana felt shame and stigma. She was constantly being compared to her sister by her relatives. And she endured emotional and physical abuse from her husband, Khaled, who blamed her for not bearing him a child.” I was absolutely miserable,” said Sana. “I could not face my in-laws or my family. I even became jealous of my own sister."
For five long years, Sana suffered. She became depressed, and her health began to fail. One day her mother-in-law, with whom she was living, approached her saying, "Ya benti [my daughter], I am worried about you. I know of this family clinic, let us go try. Maybe they can help you."
Sana agreed to go to Institute for Family Health (IFH), a community health clinic supported by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. The clinic provides comprehensive health services, including infertility treatment, family planning and other reproductive health services, as well as psychological and legal counseling to more than 120,000 people.
After months of thorough medical exams and tests and psychological counseling, it was discovered that Sana had a treatable blood disease causing her the repeated miscarriages. Four months into her treatment, she got pregnant again. With close monitoring, she delivered a healthy baby boy, named Kareem meaning ‘generous’.
"I named my baby Kareem, as life turned out to be generous to me after all,” said Sana.
The marriage of Sana and Khaled was completely transformed. Now a proud father and a loving and caring partner, Khalid believes that without the counseling provided by IFH, he couldn’t have understood his wife's medical condition and overcome his abusive behavior.
In certain cultures, infertility is a stigma that causes women to be outcasts in the own families and communities. But with your generous gift today, UNFPA can support programs like the Institute for Family Health which serves the physical and emotional needs of more than 120,000 people.
A model that is being replicated elsewhere
The success of IFH offering comprehensive health services, counseling and community outreach programs, turned it into a model centre that is being duplicated in other governorates in Jordan. It is also sought out by other health ministries in neighboring countries and elsewhere in the region.
In 2006, IFH conducted 48 awareness outreach campaigns targeting young men and women, to increase their awareness on reproductive health, gender-based violence, family planning, and HIV/AIDS. “More and more men are coming to the centre to receive some of the services and counseling. Now we have a full-time male social worker to advise them,” said Dr. Tahtamouni.
Through UNFPA regional cooperation and best practices approach, IFH is being recognized as the ‘Jordan model’, a centre of excellence providing capacity building for medical staff from Syria, Egypt and the Gulf countries.
— Henrietta Aswad