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{
    "id": 1337480,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1337480/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 407,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba North",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Speaker, the reason I am saying it is erroneous that this is brought as an amendment Bill is because there is no legal framework on assisted reproduction in this country. What that means is that people are free to undertake assisted reproduction because it is also not prohibited. There is no law against it and there is no law for it. What we are doing, therefore, is to provide a framework for assisted reproduction. There are many childless people in this country, both men and women. Some are in their reproductive ages and have struggled. Some have passed their reproductive ages and cannot have children the natural way. I have met many women who have been divorced because they are not able to have children. It is even worse for men because women are free to talk about it. Because of the way the society is, men cannot even talk about it. During the two Parliaments when I brought this Bill, I was surprised that very many Members of Parliament would see me in private and say either they have benefited from assisted reproduction or that they are unable to because of the stigma around childlessness. Some were brave enough to come up, including Hon. Joyce Lay. For those who remember, she broke down and cried when she was speaking to this Bill. It is because of the challenges she was facing when she got somebody to help her carry her baby. She still had to go through an adoption process for her own child. Even though that is her biological child, from her husband and herself, the records of the country show that she actually adopted her own child. We also have Hon. Shakeel Shabbir who has also said that he has had children through assisted reproduction. A Member of the last Parliament who was not willing to disclose herself, spoke to me before she came to Parliament. In fact, that is how I started this process. A group of evangelical women in a fellowship called me. They are struggling to have children. The only option they have is to pray and fast. Sometimes prayer and fasting alone are not enough because even the Bible tells us faith without works is dead. If the works God has given us to have children through sex are not working, sometimes we have to help people who are struggling to have children. I thank God that I have the privilege of being childless. When I say that, people think I am mad. I consider it a privilege because most people will not come and stand in a forum like this and declare that they are childless. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I will give you the reason. My constituency has a very high incidence of HIV and AIDS. Many people are stigmatised by having HIV and AIDS. When I have community gatherings and I talk to people, they will want to identify according to their categories. Fishermen come as fishermen. Farmers will come as farmers and different categories. The people who have HIV and AIDS lift their hands and say, “Honourable, do not forget us. We, the w an jondilo, are also here. We are the ones who swallow.” They are not embarrassed. However, the women who do not have children will not raise their hands. They will not address me in public. They will go behind when I am leaving. They cannot even mention it because of the Luo word for a childless woman. People get shocked when I tell them about my condition. When I go to the public and I tell them I am lur, women cry. They tell me “Do not say that”. I know there are too many people who keep praying for me. The other day when I was with the Kenya Young Parliamentarians Association (KYPA) at the Coast, I was saying that I had stopped having my periods. Suddenly, courtesy of people praying for me, I started having my periods after I had stopped having them for 10 years. I say those things in public because people will not say them. I am not struggling to have a child despite the fact that now I have my periods. It is because there are people who are praying for me. Not many people have people praying for them. For me, it is because people know how I am abused or how I am ridiculed. Again, I proudly say that I feel privileged that I am childless because then I can be the voice of the women and men who cannot stand here and deal with the stigma. I will keep talking until people get used to the fact that there is nothing wrong with being childless and that we should not treat any childless person any more differently. God gave me a very special The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}