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ABSTRACT
In the past, couples unable to conceive were expected to turn to adoption and baby buying to achieve their parenthood dreams. Nowadays there are many options for infertile couples, as well as singles and homosexuals who want children. The urge of parenthood leads them to seek alternative solutions including Assisted Reproductive Technology. Surrogacy as one of the methods of assisted reproductive technology like other methods has provided solutions to the challenges faced by involuntarily childless.
In recent decades, increased demand for alternative methods of reproduction has resulted in the creation and growth of international, commercial, gestational surrogacy arrangements, where intended parents pay a surrogate mother to birth a child who has no genetic ties to the surrogate mother. While surrogacy has at least solved the issue of infertility, however, there are several ethical, cultural, social and legal issues surrounding surrogacy in Nigeria. One of the legal, ethical, cultural and social questions surrounding the surrogacy agreement in Nigeria centres on the legal status of the resulting child and the surrogacy agreement itself. Utilizing the doctrinal research method this research work critically examined the legality of surrogacy agreement in line with the provisions of Nigerian law and also the implications of such surrogacy agreement on the status of the child conceived therefrom as well as the rights of such child under the Nigerian law. It was the finding of the work that though surrogacy is practiced in Nigeria, the level of Nigerian municipal laws on surrogacy seriously lags behind on the subject. The research therefore concluded that there is the need for a specific legal framework for the practice of surrogacy; the setting up of a regulatory body, deliberate public enlightenment programme and inclusion of the practice of surrogacy in the public health policy.
