BY EDNA EMENI /RITA OYIBOKA/ EVELYN ZORZOR/ OGORO AMAKA AMOS / AMAYINDI YAKUBU
SURROGACY is an arrangement in which a woman carries a pregnancy and gives birth to a child or more on behalf of another person or couple who will become the child’s legal parents. Our investigations show that in Nigeria, most of the arrangements take place through private clinics or online agencies, rather than under any binding law.
Over the past decade, surrogacy in Nigeria has grown quietly but steadily, with instances of fraud, lack of transparency, and deceit in fertility clinics, spread over cities like Lagos, Abuja and many others.
Surrogacy brokers help match intended parents and surrogates, arranging ultrasound scans, hospital stays, and birth plans without written contracts or legal oversight.
While there is no broad legal framework regulating surrogacy in Nigeria, causing uncertainty and hurdles in the arrangements, the lack of surrogacy-specific laws raise concerns about the validity and enforcement of such contracts in court.
Imagine how many women have been left to struggle with the devastating consequences and complications of post-birth delivery. The idea of treating people as just means to get a child only to be abandoned later is despicable and violates human dignity.
This may continue to flourish because there is no clear law to regulate fees, consent, or post-birth support for surrogate. Until we enact and enforce a robust regulatory framework, vulnerable Nigerian women will continue to bear the hidden costs of a practice that sells hope but often delivers exploitation.
It is on the strength of this that The Pointer team of Special project went out to sample the views of legal practitioners, operators, benefiting person’s or couples and victims. Happy reading.
In a conversation with Joyce Adedotun, founder of New Life Conceptual Limited, a surrogacy establishment that has operated for nearly nine years, with headquarters in Abuja and branches in Warri and Benin, she peeled back the curtain on what truly happens behind the scenes of surrogacy in Nigeria.
According to her, “Surrogacy is a process where another woman helps to carry a pregnancy for a couple. Let me put it like this: surrogacy is the process where another woman acts as a gestational carrier for another woman. Most of the time, it’s because the other woman has medical issues preventing her from becoming a mother herself. Some people call it ‘womb for rent’ or ‘womb for hire,’ but truly, it’s another woman helping with her womb to have a child for another woman.”
She explained further, surrogacy isn’t a single, one size fits all arrangement. Broadly, there are two types: traditional surrogacy and gestational surrogacy.
“In traditional surrogacy, the carrier, the surrogate, uses her egg. So most of the time, the traditional arrangement is done through intrauterine insemination (IUI). They take the sperm of the couple (the husband) and inseminate the surrogate, meaning she’s carrying her own genetically related child, which she then hands over to the couple”.
However, this method comes with an obvious emotional minefield. “There’s a high risk of the surrogate changing her mind in the traditional arrangement because, she has a genetic link to the baby. She could turn around and say, ‘I don’t want to give up this baby anymore,’ and as the biological mother, she has parental rights by birth and genetics.
“Most of the time, it becomes very controversial. When you hear about scandals and all that, most of them come from traditional arrangements because there’s a direct genetic relationship between the surrogate and the child.
The only difference is that the husband’s sperm is involved.”
To sidestep this, New Life Conceptual Limited strictly practices gestational surrogacy. “That’s the one we do. In that arrangement, the intending parents (we call them IPs) are the source of the egg and sperm. Or, in cases where the woman can’t produce eggs or the man can’t produce sperm, it’s gotten from a sperm bank or an egg bank. The surrogate has no genetic relationship with the baby she carries. Her eggs are not used; she’s only carrying the baby. That makes it less controversial,” she emphasized.
Yet, even gestational surrogacy comes with its strict criteria. “The golden rule is that the surrogate must have had at least one live birth. She must also be above age 24. I usually take between 24 to 32. You want someone mature enough to understand what she’s getting into, someone who can make decisions and is strong enough. Medically, she must also be fit: no hypertension, diabetes, obesity, or other medical issues. And she must also be psychologically stable,” she explained.
Before a surrogate is accepted, the agency screens each woman rigorously, going beyond paperwork. “Beyond the lawyer explaining to them, we must ensure they fully understand and can read and write. We don’t want them coming back later to claim they weren’t informed. We also test them medically to make sure they don’t have the same conditions the couples are trying to avoid. The surrogate must be medically sound,” she said.
However, she did not shy away from highlighting the challenges agencies face daily. “For example, some surrogates are experienced mothers who, when they join, refuse to go for antenatal care because when they had their babies, they didn’t go. You have to explain to them that this isn’t the same. We also have some girls who come in not truly intending to carry a pregnancy; they just want the benefits. In the association of big agencies like the Fertility Support Professionals Association (FSPA), we share data so such girls don’t go from agency to agency,” she said.
There’s also the matter of compl iance: “Some girls don’t want to take the required medications. For big agencies like us, we monitor them strictly to make sure they follow medical instructions. We have hostels or holding houses where surrogates stay. But when girls live together, there can be quarrels and issues. They sometimes want freedom to come back late or do as they like, but that’s not possible,” she added.
Legal safeguards are equally important: “There are legal documents the surrogates must sign. If they don’t comply, it could become a police matter. And some IPs don’t want to pay the surrogate what she’s due. That’s why an agency must act as a bridge between the surrogate and the client,” she explained.
The process doesn’t end at birth, either. “There’s also postnatal care and counselling, and the client is still responsible. Most of our surrogates don’t work elsewhere; they stay in our accommodation, where they’re fed and cared for. But the pregnancy itself, with its natural discomforts and complications, is still a challenge,” she added.
Corroborating the views expressed by Joys Adedotun on phone, the CEO of an agency that deals in Surrogacy matters in Asaba but craved anonymity, said: “Surrogacy in Nigeria is a contractual service, or a situation whereby an intending family contracts a gestational carrier for a period of nine months or more.
We have two types of surrogacy: gestational and traditional. But the former is the only one allowed to be practiced in Nigeria because there is no biological connection between the foetus and the surrogate. The surrogate is just a gestational carrier; the child belongs to the intending parents through DNA, especially from the father.
“In our facility, the first procedure is to make contact. We have official pages on Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Google.
“After contact with the potential client, we book a date for meetings, which include background checks, verification of house address, government-issued means of identification, and medical checks.
“We don’t just proceed with the procedure without first knowing the root cause of their infertility. After that, we ask about their budget to see if we can work with it. After explaining the cost of the IVF and what the surrogacy package will entail, we partner with clinics that administer the IVF.
“One of the main misconceptions we face is religious beliefs and a lack of knowledge. When we tried registering our business with the CAC, the first person we met refused, saying it was against Muslim belief; that we were trying to do what only God should do. Another challenge is that in Nigeria, people are not open-minded.
Surrogacy is often the last option, sometimes chose because of the desire for twins, medical history, or conditions like fibroids.
“For the intending parents, we have legal documentation that protects their interests. We also accommodate our surrogates, as the clients are spending their hard-earned money, sometimes obtained from loans or by selling property.
“Being a surrogate is truly a gift of giving back to humanity. Some people do it because of the harsh economy, but we enlighten them that it is ultimately a gift they are giving to a family or a mother.
“We also provide caregivers for the surrogates, as IVF pregnancies have higher chances of bleeding and miscarriage. For the surrogate, our legal protection ensures that all benefits are paid to them. First, they must have a guarantor who knows them well. This guarantor or next of kin is entitled to the surrogate’s benefits in case of fatality.
“We protect the surrogate legally, as some clients tend to abandon the foetus. The legal agreement ensures that, even if the client does not want to continue anymore or dies, the surrogate is still protected. They are also educated on what the whole process entails before medication is administered. But after medication has been given, legal documents signed, and payment received, the surrogate cannot back out.
“In Nigeria, there have been bills from the National Assembly on surrogacy that help regulate our practice. From the surrogacy bills and discussions with members of the House of Representatives, commercial surrogacy is becoming better structured,” he said.
However, a business woman in Asaba, who identified herself as Mrs. Nkiru Faith said, she has heard of surrogacy but has not seen it happen here in Asaba. “Surrogacy is a kind of ritual, accept it or not, because the surrogate mother does not know what the prospective parents want to use the child for. All they are interested in is the money they want to make.
Narrating further, she said, “I have heard of it especially on Facebook but I have never heard that such happens in Asaba here. It is absurd that two persons come together with the intension to give birth, but later sell off the child for money. a lot have been happening these days all in the name of hardship. People are doing anything just to make money. There is hunger in the land, most of them do it to make money to start a business while some see it as a source of living.
“I see no reason why a woman would carry a pregnancy for nine months with the intention to give birth, then sell off the child for money. When I remember the pain of carrying a baby for nine months in the womb, I asked, what will make one to go sell his/her child? When spending the money how do they feel? And what will they say happened to the baby? These questions keep bothering me, my sister.”
A Doctor and Couple: Recount their Bitter-sweet Experience
Mrs. Agatha Nwoli (Not real name for confidentiality reason), a medical doctor at a fertility clinic in Port Harcourt, speaks with a calm, but reflective tone as she shares a memorable experience from her years in reproductive healthcare.
“It was about three years ago,” she begins. “A young lady, just 22 years old, was brought to our clinic to serve as a surrogate for a couple who had been married for over a decade without a child. You could tell the couple had gone through a lot emotionally—they were desperate, but also very respectful of the process.”
The girl, she explains, had agreed to the surrogacy for financial reasons. “We registered her and set everything in motion. The couple was informed to provide all necessary items—both for the baby and the surrogate mother. And they did. They truly cared for her, even though they were never going to meet her.”
According to Mrs. Nwoli, the surrogacy agreement included a strict confidentiality clause: both parties—the surrogate and the intending parents—were never to meet face-to-face. “This is done to protect everyone emotionally. Sometimes, forming a bond can complicate things,” she says.
As the pregnancy progressed, everything went smoothly.
The surrogate was healthy, the baby was developing well, and the clinic handled all her medical needs. “When the delivery came, the couple was notified. They paid all the hospital bills, and the baby—healthy and crying was handed over to them. That moment was so emotional. The couple was overjoyed. They finally had what they had been praying for.”
A Couple’s Story: “We Never Met the Woman, But We’ll Forever Be Grateful”
For Engr. Johnson and his wife, Isabelle Okon (not their real names for confidentiality reason), the road to parenthood took a detour they never expected—but one that eventually brought joy.
“We already had a six-year-old son,” Mr. Okon explains. “But after years of trying, nothing was happening. A friend suggested we consider surrogacy. I was skeptical at first, but my wife was open-minded.”
The couple travelled to a fertility clinic in Imo State. After consultations, they were informed that a suitable surrogate had been found. “We were told she was a healthy woman, a mother of two, and she needed money to take care of her own children. We didn’t ask too many questions; we trusted the doctor,” Mrs. Okon adds.
They never met or even saw the surrogate. All communications and logistics were handled by the clinic.
“We sent the fees and paid for other items we were asked to provide—baby clothes, supplements, medical care. Everything.”
When the surrogate neared her due date, she was admitted for observation. “The day we received our daughter, I can’t describe the feeling,” Mrs. Okon says, her voice catching. “The doctor brought her to us, wrapped in a pink blanket. She was perfect. She looked like a miracle.”
But not everything went without a hitch.
“Something dramatic happened,” Mr. Okon recalls. “Just when we were preparing to leave, a man barged into the clinic, shouting that we had stolen his wife’s child. We were stunned. Apparently, the surrogate hadn’t informed her husband about the arrangement.”
The situation quickly escalated, but the clinic’s legal team and medical director intervened. “The doctor explained everything to the man, and after some time— and a lot of paperwork—the issue was resolved. We left that clinic with our baby and tears in our eyes.”
Now, two years later, the couple say they are grateful. “We may never know the woman who gave us this gift,” Mrs. Okon says quietly. “But every time we look into our daughter’s eyes, we silently thank her.”
No Legal Provision Guiding Surrogacy In Nigeria – Lawyer
According to an Asaba-based lawyer, Barr. Lawrentta Ogbedo, there is no legal provision guiding surrogacy in Nigeria.
In her words, “At the moment, there is no law on surrogacy in Nigeria. This poses a huge challenge to those faced with fertility issues because, people are left to do things on their own terms.
“People misbehave a lot. You see a lot of cheating, blackmailing and extortion here and there among the surrogate parties.
Sometimes, the surrogate mothers play fast ones on the intended parents by demanding exorbitant fees. At other times, the intended parents can take the child after delivery and refuse to keep to the terms of the agreement.
“I had a friend who is now late. Due to certain health complications, she was diagnosed with the inability to carry a baby full term. And so, she opted for surrogacy. The surrogate mother after delivery, refused to hand over the baby to her until the child was two years. At this point, the woman found it pretty difficult to bind with the child”.
She emphasized that a law is urgently needed to guide people’s activities in this regard for efficiency and so people can get the needed value from the process.
