De-stigmatising Surrogacy in Nigeria Will Do Many Families Good!
Nigerian couples form part of the significant and increasing number of couples around the world who currently struggle with infertility and have looked to several options, orthodox and otherwise, to help address their problem.
Generally, the most common options engaged by couples globally include; In-vitro fertilization (IVF), adoption, IUIs and of course, surrogacy.
In Nigeria, adoption has not been embraced with the same warmth as it has, in the western world. Owing to the cultural disposition in Nigeria, a lot of waiting couples, even among the elite class, still view adoption skeptically and may only consider it as an option in addition to their own biological children, or as a very reluctant last resort.
The rise of IVF as an option globally, has also revealed some of the inescapable flaws inherent in the procedure- especially as it obtains to third world countries like Nigeria. First, the cost of procuring a single IVF cycle continues to be expensive despite the fact that on the average, it may take up to 3-6 IVF cycles before a woman is successful.
Second, the success rate of an IVF procedure has been known to decrease significantly with the woman’s age. Asides that, the sheer amount of time and clinical preparations necessary, before and after treatment, can be tasking for the couple not just physically, but also mentally.
Surrogacy has over the years become a choice option for couples around the world. With traditional surrogacy, a surrogate mom is artificially inseminated with the sperm of the intending father or a sperm donor, while in gestational surrogacy, the eggs of an intending mother are fertilized with the sperm of her husband, or an anonymous sperm donor, and the fertilized egg is transferred to the surrogate mother to carry to term.
In the latter option, an intending mother has genetic relationship with the child. Surrogacy is a viable option for women who either lack a uterus, cannot carry their child up to term, or for other personal or cosmetic reason, are unable or unwilling to conceive naturally.
However, despite the increase in the number of couples opting for surrogacy around the world, Nigerian couples battling with infertility are still yet to explore this option significantly. Some reasons for this situation include: a lack of knowledge, insufficient knowledge, absence of a regulation guiding its operations in the country, and general insecurities and uncertainties regarding logistics. In fact, worries as to the details and logistics involved in this procedure remains a major reason for the general hesitance.
Even where couples are open-minded about surrogacy, issues such as access to potential surrogate moms, finding a perfect match, agreeing as to the terms and conditions binding parties, assurance as to the privacy of the procedure and demystifying the process involved still pose serious concerns.
Worse still, where surrogacy is eventually chosen without proper structure in place, the result is an upsurge in varied controversies that makes couples wary of trying it again.
The effect is that more and more couples continue to avoid surrogacy, trying instead other excruciating options and becoming dissatisfied and spent in the long run. Or, in the event where they choose surrogacy, the logistics involved cannot properly be sorted out and where they still go ahead, series of controversies arise, thus dissuading further intending couples.
Interestingly, a number of agencies undertake surrogacy business in Nigeria currently. Yet, the under-handed and often secretive mode of their operations make them redolent of a baby factory more than a properly registered medical agency.
Again, this can be attributed to the general taboo-ish mindset alot of Nigerians sustain concerning the procedure.
This has made it necessary for a harmonized platform where intending couples can meet intending surrogate moms, access proper and transparent services, obtain guidance of the procedure from start to finish, and be reasonably assured of the goal without draining their accounts.
While more and more couples continue to return from their IVF journeys sad and disappointed because their hard-earned money went to waste without results, others are totally clueless or firmly averse to the option of surrogacy.
If there were a perfect time to normalise this procedure in Nigeria with exhaustive regulatory frameworks, it is now.
