Title: Religious and cultural interpretations of artificial insemination in south-west Nigeria

Abstract

Background: In a constantly changing and increasingly globalized world, religion and cultural practices still play significant role in influencing consumer behaviour towards assisted reproductive technologies. Purpose: This study examined the religious, cultural and personal interpretations of artificial insemination. Scope of the study: The study was conducted in South-western Nigeria comprising 6 states namely; Ondo, Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Osun Oyo. Three states (Lagos, Ogun and Oyo) out of the six states were purposively selected based on their perceived level of urbanization and civilisation. Furthermore, two local governments were selected from each of the three states. A total of 72 respondents were randomly selected from across the different Christian and Muslim denominations in each of the selected local governments. Methods: The research methodology was triangulated using qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. Stratified and simple random sampling technique was used to select the study participants for quantitative data, while, Key Informant interviews (KIIs) was used elicit for qualitative data. Results: The findings showed that majority of the respondents were aware of artificial insemination, 75.3% of the respondents had adequate knowledge of artificial insemination. About 54.2% of the respondents agreed that their religious denominations supported any form of artificial insemination, For instance, in contrast to the 61.1% of Roman Catholic respondents’ who acknowledged that their religious denomination did not support artificial insemination, 75% of Shia Muslim, and 65.0% of Pentecostal respondents’ acknowledged religious support for artificial insemination. For 32.8% of the respondents the process of artificial insemination by donor negates the will of God, while 32.8% of the respondents, posited that artificial insemination is a deviation from cultural norms. The study also revealed that 57.0% of respondents personally perceived artificial insemination to be a very good medical breakthrough. Conclusions and Implications: Regardless of the technological or educational prowess leading to artificial insemination, certain religious denominations and cultural practices do not support artificial insemination. Medical ethics should take cognisance of the religious and cultural ideas and principles of the society in which they are practiced.