John Kachikwulu Ekwunife

Childless Marriages and Adoption among the Igbo: In Defense
of Child Adoption Based on the Igbo Traditional and
Christian Values ............................................................................................ 17
Introduction .............................................................................................................. 17
Purposes and Objectives of the Study ................................................................... 18
Delimitation of the Study ........................................................................................ 18
Methodology and Sources ....................................................................................... 19
Structure of the Work .............................................................................................. 23
Who Are the Igbo? ................................................................................................... 23
The Igbo Worldview in Relation to Childless Marriages .................................... 27
The Motivation for This Research .......................................................................... 29
Part I Introduction
Chapter One The Igbo Concept of Marriage ........................................ 37
1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................. 37
1.1 The Igbo Understanding of Marriage ........................................................ 37
1.2 Stages in the Igbo Marriage Processes ...................................................... 43
1.2.1 Enquiry Stage ........................................................................................ 43
1.2.2 Payment of the Bride Wealth .............................................................. 44
1.2.3 The Betrothal of the Bride ................................................................... 46
1.3 Some Impediments to Marriage in the Igbo Culture .............................. 47
1.3.1 Blood Affinity ........................................................................................ 47
1.3.2 Established History of Sudden/Premature Deaths in a Family ...... 49
1.3.3 Extreme Case of Wickedness/Maltreatment of Women ................. 50
1.3.4 Infertility ................................................................................................ 51
1.3.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................ 54Chapter Two The Place of Children in the Igbo Marriage ............. 57
2.0 Introduction ................................................................................................. 57
2.1 The Ends of Igbo Marriage ......................................................................... 57
2.1.1 A Few Igbo Names that Express the Importance of Children
among the Igbo and Their Meaning/s ............................................... 59
2.2 The Importance of Children in the Igbo Culture .................................... 61
2.2.1 Children as Old Age Insurance .......................................................... 62
2.2.2 Children as Parents Hope of Immortality ........................................ 65
2.2.3 Children Are Proof of Man/Womanhood ....................................... 66
Chapter Three Types of Marriages and Traditional Solutions
to Childlessness among the Igbo ............................................................ 69
3.0 Introduction ................................................................................................. 69
3.1 Monogamy .................................................................................................... 69
3.2 Polygamy ....................................................................................................... 71
3.3 Nhachi Nwannyi ........................................................................................... 74
3.4 Levirate Marriage ......................................................................................... 77
3.5 Woman to Woman Marriage ...................................................................... 79
3.6 Summary of Part 1 ....................................................................................... 80
Part II: The Churchs Teaching on Marriage
Chapter Four The Place of Procreation in the Christian
Concept of Marriage .................................................................................... 83
4.0 Introduction ................................................................................................. 83
4.1 Procreation in Christian Marriage before Vatican II .............................. 83
4.2 Summary ....................................................................................................... 97
4.3 The Place of Procreation in Christian Marriage in Gaudium et Spes .... 98
4.3.0 Introduction .......................................................................................... 984.3.1 Historical Evolution of Gaudium et Spes ......................................... 100
4.3.2 The Schema on Marriage/the Final Text of Gaudium et Spes
on Marriage ......................................................................................... 105
4.3.3 Ends of Christian Marriage in Gaudium et Spes ............................ 114
4.3.3.1 Conjugal Love ....................................................................... 115
4.3.4 The Igbo Marriage and Christian Marriage: Areas of
Agreement and Discord ..................................................................... 118
Chapter Five Childlessness: Meaning, Forms, and Causes .......... 123
5.0 Introduction ............................................................................................... 123
5.1.1 Involuntary Childlessness ................................................................. 123
5.1.2 Voluntary Childlessness .................................................................... 124
5.2 Infertility ..................................................................................................... 129
5.3 Childlessness in the Old Testament ......................................................... 132
Chapter Six The Church on Childless Marriages and
Assisted Reproductive Technologies .................................................. 143
6.0 Introduction ............................................................................................... 143
6.1 What is Assisted Reproductive Technology? ......................................... 143
6.1.1 Artificial Insemination ...................................................................... 144
6.1.2 In Vitro Fertilization .......................................................................... 146
6.1.3 Sperm and Ovum Donation ............................................................. 147
6.1.4 Surrogate Motherhood Arrangement .............................................. 149
6.2 The Igbo and Assisted Reproductive Technologies ............................... 151
6.3. The Church on Assisted Reproductive Technologies ............................ 155
6.3.1 The Nature of the Human Person ..................................................... 157
6.3.2 The Nature of Marriage, Sexual intercourse, and Procreation ..... 158
6.4. The Church on Assisted Reproductive Technologies ............................ 159
6.4.1 Some Objections to the Churchs Teaching on the Moral
Status of Human Embryos ................................................................ 1636.4.2 Moral Evaluation of Heterologous IVF and Artificial
Insemination and Embryo Transfer ................................................. 177
6.4.3 Moral Issues in Homologous Artificial Insemination ................... 178
6.4.4 Some Objections to the Magisteriums Stance on
Homologous IVF-ET ......................................................................... 181
6.4.5 Moral/Ethical Problems in Surrogate Motherhood ....................... 185
6.5. Summary ..................................................................................................... 190
Part III
Chapter Seven Child Adoption: An Alternative to Assisted
Reproductive Technology and Solution to Childless
Marriages ....................................................................................................... 197
7.0 Introduction ............................................................................................... 197
7.1 Defining Child Adoption .......................................................................... 197
7.1.1 Forms of Child Adoption .................................................................. 199
7.1.2 Reasons Why Children Are Put Up for Adoption ......................... 206
7.2 Reasons Why Couples Adopt Children .................................................. 208
7.2.1 Child Adoption in Antiquity ............................................................ 210
7.2.2 Adoption in the Middle Ages ............................................................ 216
7.2.3 Child Adoption in the Modern Period ............................................ 218
7.3 Traditional Models of Child Adoption in the Igbo Society .................. 222
7.3.1 The Tmanje Moonlight Story: Pointer to the Igbo
Knowledge of Child Adoption .......................................................... 223
7.3.2 Analysis of Tumanje Moonlight ....................................................... 226
7.3.3 Nhachi Nwanyi as a Form of Adoption ........................................... 228
7.3.3.1 Analysis of Nhachi Nwanyi in Relation to Child
Adoption ................................................................................ 228
7.3.3.2 Woman to Woman Marriage as a Form of Child
Adoption ................................................................................ 230
7.3.3.3 Conclusion ............................................................................ 230
7.4 The Contemporary Igbo and Child Adoption: An Empirical Study ... 2317.4.0 Introduction...