Surrogacy: QuestSurrogacy: Questions without answers
“To Allah alone belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. He creates whatever He wills. He blesses whoever He wills with daughters, and blesses whoever He wills with sons, or grants both, sons and daughters, ˹to whoever He wills˺, and leaves whoever He wills infertile. He is indeed All-Knowing, Most Capable.” Q42:49-50 In […]
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“To Allah alone belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. He creates whatever He wills. He blesses whoever He wills with daughters, and blesses whoever He wills with sons, or grants both, sons and daughters, ˹to whoever He wills˺, and leaves whoever He wills infertile. He is indeed All-Knowing, Most Capable.” Q42:49-50
In the past few years, there have been many debates surrounding the issue of surrogacy.
Globally, there is no uniform law. Legislation surrounding surrogacy varies hugely from country to country, shaped by history, culture and social values. In some places, like Germany and France, surrogacy is seen as violating the dignity of women, using them as the means to someone else’s end. Therefore, the practice is completely forbidden. Others, like the UK, view surrogacy as a gift from one woman to another and allow it on an “altruistic”, expenses-only basis. Still, countries such as Russia and Ukraine permit commercial surrogacy, viewing it as an expression of a woman’s autonomy to engage in surrogacy of their own free will.
Of course, Nigeria as a diverse country had many arguments – both for and against – based on medical, ethical, legal, cultural, religious and even emotional grounds. Many are of the opinion that Nigeria should legalise surrogacy, but just as with organ transplant, there should be stringent rules and protocols that should be followed before it is allowed.
In Nigeria, surrogacy is neither explicitly legal nor illegal, meaning there’s no national legislation specifically regulating it. While some states, like Lagos, have their own guidelines on assisted reproductive technologies, including surrogacy, the federal government lacks comprehensive legislation on the matter.
While surrogacy is practised, the absence of a comprehensive legislation means that agreements are generally treated as private contracts, subject to general contract law principles. This legal ambiguity creates complexities, particularly regarding child custody and parental rights, and can lead to challenges in enforcing surrogacy agreements in court.
Generally, surrogacy comes in two forms – gestational: where the surrogate mother is implanted with an egg and sperm (of another couple – man and woman), and traditional surrogacy: where the surrogate’s own egg is used (with the sperm of a man without his wife’s egg).
The procedure can bring with it great advantages, especially for those who can’t have children naturally, by allowing individuals and couples to have their “own” child without going through a long and restrictive adoption process. In the majority of cases, these procedures go smoothly, but in the past couple of years, concerns have arisen.
There have been troubling reports of surrogate mothers being mistreated, often by agents who exploit their vulnerability and subject them to degrading living conditions. Women facing financial hardship or social disadvantage are frequently targeted for surrogacy, lured by the promise of large payments. In countries like Ukraine, for instance, a surrogate can earn up to $20,000 – an amount that far exceeds the person’s average annual income.
Many of these women face harsh realities. Some agencies impose rigid conditions. And there have been cases where surrogates were denied payment for reasons such as miscarriage or failure to meet specific demands. Due to mounting concerns around exploitation, several countries have shut down their once-thriving surrogacy sectors. In fact, the United Nations has cautioned that commercial surrogacy often amounts to sale of children.
Alarmingly, some international surrogacy destinations, including Kenya and Nigeria, still operate without any formal regulation. These regulatory gaps have turned surrogacy into a growing form of “health tourism,” where individuals cross borders in search of more permissive legal environments.
When surrogacy is restricted or prohibited in their home countries, intending parents often look elsewhere, sometimes opting for countries with lenient oversight, or more concerningly, those with no regulation at all.
For me, since this surrogacy issue came to Nollywood and the debates started, all I have are questions, albeit with no answers. Please if any lawyer or medic, or even a religious leader can come up with factual answers, I will remain ever grateful.
Question one: Who are the real parents of the child? The parents who donated their sperm +/- egg or the woman who carried the baby for 9 months? If her egg was involved, does that not make her a co-parent?
While some countries recognise the surrogate as the legal parent, others allocate parenthood to the commissioning parents from the moment of birth – a clash of laws – meaning that children can be left stateless, with neither country recognising them as citizens.
In a real life example – Baby Manji, a child born to an Indian surrogate, was left in limbo after the Japanese commissioning parents divorced before birth. Neither the surrogate nor the intended mother wanted custody of the baby. The commissioning father, who did want the child, was not allowed to adopt as a single person under Indian law. As a result, it was unclear who the legal parents were and what the child’s nationality was.
As Oritse Femi sang: Double wahala for dead body.
Question two: Who are the child’s siblings by law? If the surrogate woman or ‘mother’ has other children – are they siblings or not? Did they not stay in the same womb? Or in the event that the woman breastfeeds the child (which is a whole different can of worms altogether), are they not technically related?
What happens if the commissioning parents take the child and disappear, only for the ‘siblings’ to be reunited in later years and decide to marry or simply have sex? Have you watched the real life Netflix documentary ‘Our father’? If not, please put it on your weekend to-do list. Are they siblings or not?
Question three: If as pro-surrogacy debaters argue, that it should be implemented in Nigeria based on strict laws and whoever cuts corners will be prosecuted – I am asking: ‘Who will be prosecuted?’ Is it the rich commissioning parents or the poor woman who was exploited to rent her womb? Who will go to jail? And if you say both of them, what happens to the child? Placed in another motherless babies home along with hundreds of other babies when we are struggling with resources? You think Tinubu or any state government has your time?
I am well aware that in asking these questions, I come across being against surrogacy. In truth, yes, but my opinion can be changed if only objective answers to these questions can be answered.
Surrogacy presents a range of ethical challenges, particularly around exploitation, commodification and the emotional toll it takes on everyone involved. There are genuine concerns about women being driven into surrogacy by financial hardship, as well as the long-term implications for children born through these arrangements, especially when issues of identity and family structure come into play.
Can you imagine a woman in rural Enugu waking up one day to discover that the child she gave birth to through surrogacy 24 years ago is now an international football legend earning millions of pounds and not feeling cheated (non-disclosure agreement be damned)? A child she carried in her belly? Before you know it, she will be granting interviews left, right and centre, asking for her share of the millions. And the poor boy will have a full-blown identity crisis and feel enraged at his poor parents for bringing him up with a lie.
Until these questions are answered, I choose to wear my religious cap proudly and have faith with what Allah has said. Let us learn to leave and let be.