‘Surrogacy Is Child Trafficking And Illegal In Nigeria’ – Nigerian Lawyer, Sonnie Ekwowusi
A Nigerian Human Rights lawyer, Sonnie Ekwowusi, has sparked off a debate on social media after claiming that surrogacy is illegal and a crime in Nigeria.
The columnist and essayist also stated that surrogacy is against natural law and it can be referred to as child trafficking.
During an interview with Arise TV, Ekwonwusi said surrogacy is simply womb renting and is the greatest violation of a woman’s dignity and section 30 of the Child Rights Act criminalizes it.
In his words:
“Surrogacy is against natural law. It is also against Nigerian law. A lot of people don’t know that Surrogacy is illegal in Nigeria because Surrogacy simply means mixing the sperm and egg and putting in the womb of a woman.
it is virtually called woman renting and the woman carries the baby for the nine months and delivers the baby and gives the baby to the person who wants the baby and the same woman goes around and does the same thing for another person.
At the end of the day that woman becomes an object and this is why it is said that surrogacy is the greatest violation of a woman’s dignity, the greatest violation of the identity of a woman and that is why Section 30 of the Child’s Right Act criminalizes it.
It says that anybody that buys, sells and exchanges a baby commits a crime and is punishable. Surrogacy also has to do with Child Trafficking. Part of the Child Trafficking Act also condemns and criminalizes Surrogacy.
You have the Child Rights act and the trafficking law against it and the National Health act which talks about Trafficking Human Zygote and Human Embryo because that is what it(surrogacy) is all about.”
Reacting to the claim, Nigerians have these to say:
If our current constitution forbids this, then we need to have it amended to accommodate surrogacy. This is different from trafficking of children. We can accommodate this by backing it up with laws since it benefits families whom have not been able to conceive.
What kind of mentality is this? You can’t go against human rights. Everyone has the right to make decisions for themselves without consent so long they are of age. Are you their parent? If a woman desires a child, she can get the child through a surrogate so long there’s an agreement between her and the surrogate. It’s just like putting a premature in an incubator to survive. The incubator is just like having a surrogate.
@MissyE:
I totally disagree with this lawyer’s views. His views are far far away from civilized and scientific realities. Africans are always behind when it comes to scientific advancements because we always find primitive reasons to disagree with current realities.
Surrogacy is assisted fertility and it has helped millions all over the world to have their own kids. This was how Africans initially rejected IVF, but now accepts it. The developed world have gone far and here we are arguing downward.
ALSO SEE: Surrogacy Is Now A Thing In Nigeria: Meet The Women Who Help Other Women Carry Their Pregnancies
@Anonymous:
I listened to this man briefly and he sounded really dumb in his assertions. How he managed to equate surrogacy to child trafficking quoting Nigerian law portrays his obvious bias.
We may not have laws that correctly capture or regulate surrogacy in Nigeria but he and his team are the wrong set of people to leading the charge. Has he even stopped to contemplate why people would opt for surrogacy? Very soon he will claim IVF is illegal in Nigeria or against natural law.
@Babanladi24:
Invitro fertilisation us not natural but a lot of couples have used it to have a family. ASSITED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNIQUE also uses sperms from a donor other than the husband to achieve conception and start a family.
Oga lawyer rest or find something useful to do. Using the kidney of a pig is unnatural but it has been done and the recipient are living a meaningful life foe now. Eat garri or vote APC otherwise, please, rest .This is not your area of expertise.