Ernestine Gwet – Bell, pioneer of in-vitro fertilization in Cameroon

Ernestine Gwet-Bell is a Cameroonian obstetrician-gynecologist. In 1998, she was responsible for the birth of the first test tube baby in Cameroon, thus becoming one of the pioneers of in vitro fertilization in sub-Saharan Africa.

In Cameroon, within her hospital, the Odyssey Clinic located in Douala, Ernestine Gwet has contributed to giving hope to several couples, by allowing them to have babies through in-vitro fertilization. For more than 30 years, this Cameroonian gynecologist has provided many couples with medically assisted reproduction.

It was in 1997 that Ernestine Gwet introduced in vitro fertilization in her clinic. A year later, she participated with a team of three gynecologists and 2 biologists, in the birth of the first test tube baby in Cameroon and Central Africa.

It is in France, more precisely at the Faculty of Medicine of Paris Descartes in the 70’s that she trained. After graduation, she returned to her country where she worked as a volunteer for a year at the Hospital of the Council of Baptist and Evangelical Churches of Cameroon and then at the Laquintinie Hospital for two years.

In 1987, in order to offer patients and couples better quality and advanced care in a simple and friendly environment and to make African women benefit from scientific advances in gynecology-obstetrics, she created the Odyssey Medical center in Douala.

In 1993, the center expanded and became the Odyssée Medical Clinic, specializing in infertility problems. It practices, in particular, assisted reproduction, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, gamete and embryo freezing, and gamete donation.

After introducing in vitro fertilization in 1997 in Cameroon and contributing to the birth of Tommy, the first test tube baby in the country and in Central Africa, she and her team introduced other scientific advances in the field in Cameroon. In 2004, her team introduced intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICS), a technique to combat male infertility in the context of in vitro fertilization.

As of August 2007, she and her team had helped deliver 500 babies through in vitro fertilization. Today, her clinic has become one of the leading centers for in vitro fertilization techniques in the country. It is a reference center for the care of pregnant women with HIV-AIDS.

She also leads other battles against infertility, autism and HIV in Cameroon. She is also the founder of Orchidée Home, a support center for autistic children and their parents. She is also president of the Cameroon Private Doctors Union and president of the Inter-African Group for the Study, Research and Application of Fertility.