The conversation around surrogacy in Nigeria reached a new height on Sunday, August 31, 2025, as fertility specialist Dr. Abayomi Ajayi hosted a groundbreaking webinar titled “Surrogacy Uncovered!” The session, streamed live on Zoom and Facebook, brought together leading legal minds to unpack the complex, and often controversial, subject of surrogacy in the country.
For many couples struggling with infertility, surrogacy has long offered hope—a lifeline to parenthood when every other option fails. Yet in Nigeria, this hope has thrived in a vacuum of legal clarity, clouded by cultural sensitivities, ethical dilemmas, and the scourge of exploitative “baby factory” practices.
At the heart of Sunday’s discussion was the Surrogacy Bill 2024, currently before Nigeria’s lawmakers. If passed, the bill seeks to establish the Nigerian Surrogacy Regulatory Commission, offering long-awaited structure and protections for intending parents, surrogates, and fertility professionals. While this legislative effort still leaves some grey areas, participants agreed it could mark a decisive shift from unregulated practices to a framework that balances progress with protection.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Ajayi underscored the human dimension of the debate:
“Regulation alone cannot address the intricate web of challenges we face—from cultural pressures that make parenthood feel like a social imperative, to the unfortunate proliferation of exploitative practices that have tainted public perception about surrogacy. The questions are not merely legal or medical, they are deeply human.”
The panel featured seasoned lawyers, Otunba Olaolu Osanyin and Barrister Ame Ogie, who together have nearly two decades of experience drafting surrogacy contracts in Nigeria. They traced the evolution of surrogacy practice in the country, highlighting loopholes such as the absence of binding legislation, the risks of traditional surrogacy, and the challenges of ensuring informed consent, mental health checks, and fair compensation for surrogates.
While Lagos State introduced Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) guidelines in 2019, experts noted that comprehensive laws are still missing. Previous attempts, such as the ART Regulation Bill of 2016, failed to progress. The present bill, they argued, must carefully balance prohibiting exploitation while safeguarding the rights and dignity of all involved.
The discussions also touched on ethical minefields—whether surrogacy should be restricted to married couples, how cultural values intersect with reproductive technologies, and the need for robust background checks on surrogates to avoid emotional and contractual breakdowns during pregnancy.
According to Barrister Ogie:
“Surrogacy is not illegal in Nigeria, but it is unregulated. What we have done over the years is to craft enforceable agreements that balance contractual principles with cultural and ethical realities. But the time has come for the law to catch up.”
With attendance cutting across medical professionals, intending parents, legal practitioners, and members of the public, the webinar highlighted growing national interest in surrogacy as both a medical solution and a legal frontier.
Closing the session, Dr. Ajayi stressed that Nigeria cannot simply “copy and paste” laws from other jurisdictions but must design a homegrown framework that protects families, surrogates, and the dream of safe parenthood.
“This is not just about reproductive technology. It is about building families, protecting vulnerable individuals, and creating a future where the dream of parenthood can be pursued safely and with dignity,” he said.
The lively session, filled with real-life experiences and audience questions, reaffirmed that the surrogacy debate is no longer niche—it is mainstream, urgent, and inseparable from Nigeria’s future of family-making.
