Surrogate motherhood in Nigeria: Critical evaluation of proposed Bills
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65221/0232Keywords:
Surrogacy, surrogate mother, commodification, exploitationAbstract
This study critically examines four major legislative attempts to regulate surrogacy in Nigeria: the in-vitro fertilization bill 2015, the assisted reproductive technology (Regulation) Bill 2016, the Surrogacy Bill 2024, and the Women’s Health and Surrogacy Protection Bill 2025. Using a doctrinal and analytical legal methodology, the study evaluates the strengths, limitations, and ethical implications of these proposed Bills within Nigeria’s constitutional, cultural, and human rights milieu. The analysis reveals a gradual legislative evolution from a predominantly medical and institutional regulation of assisted reproduction toward a more explicit concern for the protection of women’s health and dignity. The study argues for a more comprehensive and ethically grounded regulation that will protects women, children, and reflects Nigeria’s socio-legal realities, even if it could be achieved by an administrative ban.
References
Aderonmu MM, Oyero AN, Shote OB, Okonkwo CG, Ashiru OA (2023). Our bab(y)ies, your uterus: A retrospective study on surrogacy at a private fertility centre in South West Nigeria. Global Reproductive Health 8(3):1-3
Anderson E (1990). Is women’s labour a commodity? Philosophy and Public Affairs 19(1):71-92.
Balogun J (2021). The Nigerian Healthcare System Pathway to Universal and High-Quality Health Care. Switzerland: Springer.
De Groot D (2025). Surrogacy: The legal situation in the EU. European Parliament. Document number: PE 769.508. Available at https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2025/769508/EPRS_BRI(2025)769508_EN.pdf
Centre for Health Ethics, Law and Development (CHELD) (2025). Surrogacy Bills and arising issues – Policy Brief 3: The future of surrogacy in Nigeria. Lagos: CHELD. Available at: https://healthlaw.com.ng/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Surrogacy-Policy-Brief-3.pdf
Danna D (2019). The Subrogation of Motherhood: A Judicial Institution that puts Kinship on the Market. Salute e Societa 15(1):44-59.
Dubawa (2025). Documentary: How Facebook, misinformation, legal loopholes throw Nigerian women into surrogacy ditch. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN9O4J0rxKk
Ebrahimi A, Ghodrati F (2025). Comparative investigation of surrogacy laws in Asian Islamic countries: A narrative review. Journal of Midwifery & Reproductive Health 13(1):4523-4535.
Ekwowusi S (2025). Why the surrogacy Bills are illegal and unconstitutional. Law and Society. Available at: https://lawandsocietymagazine.com/why-the-surrogacy-Bills-are-illegal-and-unconstitutional/
Eniola B, Omoleye B (2018). Baby making factories and the Reproductive Health Rights of Women in Nigeria. Journal of Law, Policy and Globalization 72:22-29.
Eriksson L (2022). Outsourcing problems or regulating altruism? parliamentary debates on domestic and cross-border surrogacy in Finland and Norway. European Journal of Women’s Studies 29(1):107-122.
Ertman M, Williams J (2005). Rethinking Commodification: Cases and Readings in Law and Culture. NY: New York University Press.
Eseadi C, Achagh W, Ikechukwu-Ilomuanya AB, Ogbuabor SE (2015). Prevalence of baby factory in Nigeria: An emergent form of child abuse, trafficking and molestation of women. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research Methods 2(1):1-12.
Ezenwa BN, Ibrahim UO, Moronkola OA, Fajolu IB, Ndukwu L, Oleolo-Ayodeji KO, Ezeaka VC (2024). The growing trend of surrogacy in Nigeria: Implications for quality newborn care: A case report. Nigerian Medical Journal. Journal of the Nigeria Medical Association 65(5):792-799.
Federal Republic of Nigeria (2015). The In-Vitro Fertilization Bill, (SB. 127). https://p.placBillstrack.org/8th/search.php
Federal Republic of Nigeria (2016). The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, (SB. 325). https://p.placBillstrack.org/8th/view.php?getid=2380 .
Federal Republic of Nigeria (2024b). The women’s health and surrogacy protection Bill, (HB 2340). Retrieved from https://p.placBillstrack.org/
Germany (1990). Embryo Protection Act. Retrieved from https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/eschg/index.html
Hadd W (1991). A Womb With A View: Women as Mothers and the Discourse of the Body. Berkeley Journal of Sociology 36:165-175.
Ikechebelu JI, Ibadin K, Joe-Ikechebelu NN, Nwajiaku LA, Nwaefulu K, Okwelogu SI (2017). A Successful Gestational Surrogacy in Southeast Nigeria. African Journal of Reproduction and Gynaecological Endoscopy 2(1):19-22.
Italy (2004). Medically assisted reproduction. (Law no. 40/2004.) Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana, 45p. Available at: https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it
Kodama M (2017). Risks present in the Cambodian surrogacy business. Eubios Journal of Asian and International Bioethics 27:40-44.
Macao (1999) Civil Code (Law No. 31/1999). Boletim Oficial da Região Administrativa Especial de Macau. Available at: https://bo.dsaj.gov.mo/bo/i/99/31/codcivpt/
Malta. (2012). Embryo Protection Act (No. XXI of 2012). Retrieved from https://legislation.mt/eli/act/2012/21/eng/pdf
McFarlane A (2025). Re H (Anonymous Surrogacy) [2025] EWHC 220 (Fam). High Court of Justice, Family Division, England and Wales. Available at: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Re-H-Anonymous-surrogacy-judgment.pdf
Nussbaum M (2000). Women and human development: The capabilities approach. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Okafor J (2012). Nigeria: As Reps debate assisted reproduction Bill, experts laud initiative. Daily Trust. Available at: https://allafrica.com/stories/201205160969.html
Olawuyi O, Ezenwa BN, Fajolu IB, Onwuama M, Ezeaka CV (2021). Knowledge, attitude and practice of kangaroo mother care among mothers in the neonatal wards of a tertiary care center. The Pan African Medical Journal 14:38:364.
Oluwayemisi NA (2025). Navigating Nigeria surrogacy laws: A focus on domestic surrogacy and the UK’s surrogacy Bill. MSI Journal of Arts, Law and Justice 2(6):1-11.
Pande A (2014). Wombs in labour transnational commercial surrogacy in India. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Parks J (2014). Feminist issues in domestic and transnational surrogacy: The case of Japan. International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics 7(2):121-143.
Pennings G (2012). Ethical issues of infertility treatment in developing countries. Eubios Journal of Asian and International Bioethics 22:64-67.
Raposo V, Wai U (2017). Surrogacy in greater China: The legal framework in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, and mainland China. UCLA Pacific Basin Law Journal 34(2):135-148.
Republic of Austria (1992). Reproductive Medicine Act (No. 275). https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10003046
Scherpe J, Fenton-Glynn C, Kaan T (2019). Eastern and Western Perspectives on Surrogacy. United Kingdom, UK: Intersentia Ltd.
Spain (1988). On assisted reproduction techniques (Law 35/1988). Official State Gazette, 282p. https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-1988-27108
Swiss Confederation (1999). Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation (as amended). https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1999/404/en
Tijani N, Abraham A (2023). The Legal Spectrum of Parenthood Through Assisted Reproductive Technology in Nigeria. Nnamdi Azikiwe University Journal of Commercial and Property Law 10(2):244-257.
United Nations (2025). Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences: The different manifestations of violence against women and girls in the context of surrogacy. Available at: https://docs.un.org/en/A/80/158
Wilkinson S (2003). Bodies for sale: Ethics and exploitation in the human body trade. London: Routledge.
