By Brighton Chiseva
MASVINGO – A collective, multisectoral approach involving traditional leaders, church leaders, health workers, and government is required to break the stigma surrounding infertility, which continues to reduce many Zimbabwean women to silent sufferers in a society that measures their worth by their ability to bear children.
Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council Masvingo Gender and Wellness Focal Person Olga Muza said in Zimbabwe’s pronatalist culture, childlessness carries a severe gendered stigma that drives marital instability and intimate partner violence, and called for a comprehensive, multi-layered approach to dismantle it.
“There is a need for launching nationwide public education campaigns to reframe pronatalist norms and dismantle the misconception that childlessness is exclusively a female failure, expanding accessible psychosocial support groups and mental health counseling for both men and women, engaging traditional and religious leaders to shift harmful patriarchal narratives, training healthcare workers to provide gender-inclusive and non-judgmental fertility evaluations, and improving the affordability and availability of advanced reproductive health services,” said Muza.
She said communities can engage traditional and religious leaders to dismantle pronatalist norms and establish peer-led support groups, while health facilities can train staff in gender-inclusive counseling and provide holistic fertility services for both partners.
At the national policy level, the government can integrate comprehensive fertility care into public health frameworks and enforce protections against marital discrimination.
Statistics paint a stark picture. Globally, infertility affects approximately 17.5% of adults, with sub-Saharan Africa carrying a disproportionately heavy burden.
In Zimbabwe, up to 15% of couples struggle to conceive, with causes distributed equally between men and women.
In Shona culture, the verb kubereka (to give birth) is a central marker of full adulthood and social respectability.
Women who have not given birth are positioned as socially incomplete, lacking in dignity.Women who shared their experiences said the stigma usually starts about a year into marriage.
One woman, whom we shall call Rudo, said her experience was excruciating until she developed a thick skin.
“The first challenge is that people always point to the women as having the problem and do not look at the man.
The hurtful words started from a distance until they came to my face,” she said.
She said once people believe you are infertile, you start to lose support and respect within the in-laws’ family, and said society needed to accept that it is a challenge that no one wishes to have.
“If there are other daughters-in-law in the family, you will notice the difference with those with children being given special treatment and being allowed to rest while you work. Society needs to learn to treat people equally despite their ability to bear children.”
Another woman, Chipo, said the stigma also came from her own family, with relatives fearing they would “catch” the barrenness curse.
A third woman, Nyasha, said she was called derogatory words like Ngomwa or Ramba and was pressured to sleep with her husband’s brother to conceive.
“They started calling me all sorts of names, saying I didn’t want to have a child. I told them that if I was going to have a child, then I was going to have one with my husband,” she said.
She said people often believe one was bewitched, and the first port of call is to go the traditional way, consulting witch doctors and prophets.
The issue does not affect women only. A 45-year-old man, Tendai, said he suffered stigma after failing to have children.
“I have married three wives who all went away because I could not make them pregnant. The whole community calls me Va followed by my first name. It hurts me a lot.
“Women unable to conceive are often accused of witchcraft, labelled “barren witches” or “abortionists”.
The term tsvimborume describes an unmarried or childless man with undertones of ridicule and moral suspicion.
To couples struggling with infertility, Muza offered a message of hope: “Childlessness does not define your worth, your humanity, or the strength of your relationship, and you are not alone in navigating this journey.
“Matigimu Village Head Joseph Mutubuki from Zaka said the issue needed the involvement of traditional leaders, especially village heads, because that is where it is rampant.
“As a village head, I know everyone in my village by name, and I know all their social challenges. Equipped with requisite knowledge, I can help by engaging families and the whole community against stigmatizing those failing to conceive. We can easily pass some form of local legislation against that,” said Mutubuki.
He said the government has to be deliberate in its policies to promote campaigns against infertility stigma, just like what was done with disability and HIV and Aids.
“There should be more awareness campaigns just like what was done to disability, changing terms and words used to describe people with disabilities, issues of gender based violence, equality and HIV and Aids,” said Mutubuki
Harvest International Church Pastor Reverend Tichavaka Hlomayi said infertility stigmatisation needed to be dealt with decisively.
“I think stigmatisation is something that we must deal with ruthlessly and decisively. We cannot have a situation where someone will feel out of place, where someone will be given names that are ridiculing because they cannot have a child. We may be cautious and sensitive and sensible to others,” said Rev Hlomayi.
He said society needs to accept that it is not someone’s intention to fail to bear children, saying that in most cases infertility comes naturally.
“Everyone wants to have a child. And if the child is not coming, let it not be the person’s problem. It’s not like we choose to be unable to bear children,” he said.
He added that the Bible was full of cases of barrenness, including Sarah, Rebekah and Hannah, and said there was no need to stigmatize those who fail to have children.
“Sometimes there would be scientific challenges, so people need to pray and consult doctors. Stigma should not be part of our society because in the Bible, the likes of Sarah, Hannah and Rebekah later on had their children, so sometimes it’s a matter of time,” he said.
Fertility treatment in Zimbabwe remains largely privatised, and few public health institutions offer the services, making it harder for ordinary people to have access.
Psychosocial support services remain largely unavailable in public hospitals, leaving a critical gap in care.
Experts have called for integrated psychological support into infertility treatment, improved community awareness to dismantle stigma, and the development of support groups for affected individuals.
There is also a need for a cultural paradigm shift, one that recognises a woman’s worth beyond her reproductive capacity and sees infertility as a shared medical condition rather than a personal failure.
For now, thousands of women across Zimbabwe continue to navigate their silent struggle. Behind each statistic is a story that deserves to be heard, and a pain that deserves to be met with compassion rather than judgment.
