Dr. Abayomi Ajayi, a consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist, is the Managing Director, Nordica Fertility Centre, Lagos, a multi-million naira centre that deals on In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), Compatibility Screening, Cosmetic Surgery among others. Nordica Fertility Center has branches in Lgaos, Abuja, and Asaba. He is eldest of the three children of Mr. and Mrs. Ebenezer Oludotun Ajayi from Abeokuta in Ogun State. He had his primary education at Salvation Army, after which he moved to CMS Grammar School. He obtained his first degree in medicine at the University of Lagos, Akoka and did a Post Graduate Programme at University College Hospital, Ibadan. He talks about his life, job and family in this interview with Sunday Adebayo

INFERTILITY CHALLENGES IN NIGERIA
Nordica Fertility center readily comes to mind whenever fertility challenges are mentioned within Lagos and Nigeria, and that is not just because they have their clinics in major areas within the country, but because they treat fertility cases and also use IVF as an option for fertility challenged inidviduals. Dr Ajayi is very passionate about infertility, especially after noticing the huge gap in fertility treatments in nigeria. before now, couples who could afford it travelled out of nigeria for IVF and other fertility options, but with the entrant of Nordica in the healthcare system several years ago, there is absolutely no need for such trips for couples.
This is because in Nordica, they do what is called compatibilyt analysis for intending couples to find out diseases that are recessive in them and the ones that can affect their unborn babies. they also study their DNA to detect chromosomal disorders like Albinism and Down Syndrome, all these diseases in children can be avoided especially when they couples listen top the expert advise of the Nordica staff, in cases where they are advised not to marry.
“The study of genes has affected the treatment of infertility tremendously and positively. A lot of diseases and disorders can now be detected and avoided” Dr Ajayi says.
Both genetic screening and analysis are done for couples and donors, just to ensure that diseases are bred or transferred from the parents to the unborn children. Nordica Fertility Center also does sperm screening to discover sperms that are healthy, which can give healthy embryonic development and reduce DNA damage in sperm. the DNA damage Sometimes causes short term pregancies for women e.g miscarriages and also leads to birth of abnormaal children in some cases. And also sperm that can actually fertilise egg. they also conduct tests on the embryo to determine if any disease in the it is recessive or dominant.

In all, Dr Ajayi insists that giving birth to children with special needs can be prevented if the couples go through thorough screening before marriage, so thay any abnormally can be spotted and corrected or prevented.

STARTING NORDICA
From inception, Nordica Fertility Center was started in a big way, indeed Dr Ajayi’s rise in the healthcare sector is not one of grass to grace. He started big and equipped the hospital with everything it needed from the get go. “I started big from day one because I worked in another hospital, which made me to understand that you probably can’t start a good business alone, rather you needed to partner with others to raise the funds. So, I didn’t start from one room or managing candle or something else. I started with everything required for a good practice”.

Taking a good look at the then health sector, the mindset Dr Ajayi had was to achieve the seemingly impossible in that sector and to give the same quality of service and solutions to fertility that poeple travelled outside the shores of Nigeria to get. “In the case of Nordica, the necessity propitiated the need for the center because fertility medicine has always appealed to me. Though a lot of people discouraged me that IVF would not get the needed attention or patronage in Nigeria, but when a UK based returnee started his IVF clinic in Nigeria, that was all the prompting Dr Ajayi and his team needed to start Nordica.

MARRIAGE & LIFESTYLE
Dr Abayomi Ajayi is married to Mrs Tola Olaranti Ajayi, a nurse who he met during his NYSC. They have been married for 29 years and have four children, three girls and one boy. “Where else does a doctor meet a nurse, its in the hospital hahah. I walked into the hospital on my first day and saw this fine dashing young girl, one thing led to another and here we are today. Though I wasn’t really ready when we did, I was still enjoying myself, but one day I said ‘why not pull the trigger’. The boss of Nordica reveals that he loves spending time with his family, especially when he’s not travelling, to him this is payback time for all the years when he was absent from home while developing himself. “I like being with my family. I just want to stay around them”

Dr Ajayi’s lifestyle is simple, he loves to dress well, he loves good perfumes, watches football and sometimes plays golf. “I’m ok with any good perfume, I collect perfumes and I dont particularly have what you will call a hobby. Sometimes, I get disconnected, when people say I have achieved many things. I wake up hungry, everyday, saying what can I do to improve our health care system?”. Dr Ajayi’s only claim to jewelry are his wrist watches and rings. “Come on! I’m a man. I don’t do jewelry”. he concludes our interview with a big smile.