Famara Fatty: Throwing Sperm does not mean you are throwing a Human Being

Famara Fatty

Mr. Famara Fatty, Senior Programs Officer at the Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, and Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCA) unit of the Ministry of Health in the Gambia, has said that throwing out sperm does not mean that you are throwing a Human Being.

He was responding to questions during an interview with this medium on the misconception that using a condom to throw out sperm means you are throwing out babies. The interview took place recently during the review of Gambia’s Family Planning 2030 commitment paper held at a hotel in Kotu.

Mr. Fatty: From the Scientific point of view, until that sperm meets an ovum or an egg, we believe there is no union between the two to form a human being so you have not thrown a child out. Throwing a sperm does not mean that you are throwing a human being.

Those who are saying that are taking it from certain schools of thought. I can tell you that even in the religion, there is what we call withdrawal, which means when a man is having intercourse and reaches climax, he can withdraw his manhood and pour the sperm out.

What he pours out is sperm and no one is saying that he is throwing babies because it is accepted by the religion. The condom has come to make it a bit more modern and civilized. Before you pour the sperm on the bed or the floor as you are having your nice time, why not put it in a container that will keep it for you until you are ready to dispose of it safely?

Reporter: What do you think of the Misconception that Family Planning encourages young people to engage in immoral behaviours in society?

Mr. Fatty: We must thank God for having Family Planning this time in our lives; otherwise, it will become a disaster. Family Planning is not here to encourage anybody to be promiscuous.

An example is the mobile phones we have. The one who makes the mobile did not make it for most of the things we are seeing in these Mobile Phones today. He made it easier to make communication easier. I don’t think we will blame the maker of the mobile phone for the bad things people are doing with it.

Similarly, for Contraceptives, because that’s where the problem lies when it comes to promiscuity. Contraceptives are meant for married couples that have united in the right way and they are being advised to do it in the right way. If it comes to Promiscuity, that is where the primary family planning comes in, which is also the religious practice called total abstinence.

Religion tells you that if you are a young adult, please think about getting married to prevent you from the other side doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.
If you cannot abstain, the religion says to keep fasting because by the time you end your fast, you are tired, and then you go to bed.

Promiscuity and the bad things that people are doing with Family Planning are not the reason Family Planning exists. As parents, caregivers and gatekeepers, we need to talk to our children that certain relationships are not good for them.

Author: Halimatou Ceesay