Dot: Here’s why parents should demand medical examinations of their future son-in-law

Dr. Sébastien Wanonkou, a gynecologist and researcher in reproductive medicine, recommends that the future bride’s parents impose medical requirements before accepting the dowry.

According to him, two tests are essential. These are a hemoglobin electrophoresis to detect possible genetic diseases like sickle cell disease, and a sperm analysis to evaluate the future husband’s fertility. These simple but revealing tests could avoid many hardships in the future household.

“Too often, the woman is accused of infertility when a couple fails to conceive, while the man could be the source of the problem,” he warns. However, in our societies still marked by taboos, the question of male fertility is rarely addressed, or even ignored by families.

Male infertility, a reality often overlooked

The specialist stresses that cases of male infertility are on the rise. They are often linked to factors such as stress, poorly treated infections, poor diet, or a decline in semen quality. A man may have had children in the past but may no longer be fertile today.

That’s why Dr. Wanonkou insists that fertility should no longer be considered a strictly female matter. The responsibility should be shared and assumed from the early stages of the marital project.

For him, this advice is part of a logic of prevention and protection of the woman, to prevent her from being trapped in a marriage that becomes a trap in the early years.