Thelma Osatohanmwen
Nigerian human rights lawyer, Sonnie Ekwowusi has described the practice of surrogacy in Nigeria as a violation of women’s dignity and identity.
Speaking in an interview on Arise TV, the advocate reaffirmed that surrogacy is illegal in Nigeria as it is against the child rights act of section 30, child trafficking act and national health act, section 10.
According to him, the practice breeds confusion on the part of the parties involved and the bond between the mother (surrogate) and child diminishes which can result to a long term effect on the child.
He also added that the practice is not safe as in some cases, ” some carry imported sperm from China, Russia and bring it down to Nigeria all in the name of having a child,
“Surrogacy is renting your womb, mixing sperm in the body of another woman, she then bean object because she goes from party A to B, then to C, Surrogacy is illegal in Nigeria.”
When asked if the law clearly stated that surrogacy is illegal, he referred back to section 30 of the child rights act, “Prohibition of buying, selling, hiring or otherwise dealing in children for the purpose of hawking or begging for alms or prostitution”, adding that surrogacy falls under this category and in as much as the social problems are solved but the practice is unethical, there are abuses involved and most importantly the exploitative nature of the whole thing should be taken into consideration.