Britain’s surrogacy demand is fuelling a fertility boom in Nigeria

For years, British couples seeking children through surrogacy looked to established international destinations such as the United States, Ukraine, and Georgia. Today, a growing number are looking much further south.

Nigeria, better known globally for its large diaspora, technology startups and entertainment industry, is quietly emerging as one of the fastest-growing destinations for British parents pursuing surrogacy arrangements abroad.

Official figures from England’s Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) show that parental order applications involving babies born through Nigerian surrogacy arrangements rose from just six in 2015 to 59 in 2025. The increase makes Nigeria the second most popular international surrogacy destination for intended parents in England, behind only the United States.

The figures reflect a broader transformation in the global fertility industry. As geopolitical disruptions, regulatory changes, and rising costs reshape traditional surrogacy hubs, demand is increasingly flowing towards newer markets across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

For Nigeria, the trend is creating a new niche within the country’s growing fertility sector. For Britain, it is exposing the complex legal, ethical, and economic questions that accompany the globalization of reproductive healthcare.

Why British parents are looking to Nigeria

Several forces are driving the shift.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted one of the world’s largest commercial surrogacy markets. Georgia, another popular destination for foreign intended parents, has tightened regulations around surrogacy arrangements. Meanwhile, costs in the United States, long regarded as the gold standard for surrogacy, remain prohibitively expensive for many families.
Nigeria offers an alternative.

Beyond lower medical and administrative costs, the country provides something many intended parents struggle to find in Britain and other Western markets: access to ethnically matched egg donors and surrogate mothers.

“Given limited availability of African donor eggs and surrogates in the UK, Nigeria can offer more options,” fertility lawyer Louisa Ghevaert told British media.
For British families of African heritage, particularly those with Nigerian roots, family connections, cultural familiarity and diaspora networks have further lowered the barriers to pursuing fertility treatment in Nigeria.

The result is the emergence of what industry observers describe as a new fertility corridor linking Britain and Nigeria.

Yet while demand continues to grow, regulation has struggled to keep pace.

A booming market operating in a legal grey zone

Unlike many countries that have established legal frameworks governing surrogacy, Nigeria has no comprehensive national legislation regulating the practice.

Legal experts say the absence of clear rules has created uncertainty around consent procedures, parental rights, compensation arrangements and the legal status of children born through surrogacy agreements.

“There is no regulatory framework for surrogacy in Nigeria,” said Oluwadamilola Adejumo, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Law at Obafemi Awolowo University.

“What goes on is that most institutions are just doing things based on what they think is right. Late last year there was a pending bill before the National Assembly. It passed second reading, but nothing has been heard since.”

The lack of legislation becomes even more complicated in cross-border arrangements involving foreign parents.
“In jurisdictions like the UK, there is a law that clearly defines who the mother of a child is,” Adejumo explained. “In Nigeria, that position is not clearly defined. For British parents using a Nigerian surrogate, questions about legal parentage and paternity remain uncertain.”

The regulatory vacuum has increasingly attracted scrutiny from British courts responsible for approving parental orders.

Recent judgments have highlighted concerns over incomplete records, anonymous surrogate mothers and difficulties verifying whether informed consent was freely given.

In one case involving a Nigerian surrogacy arrangement, judges questioned the reliability of documentation presented by intended parents and raised concerns about whether the surrogate mother had genuinely understood and consented to the arrangement.

The ruling underscored growing concerns that the industry’s rapid expansion may be outpacing safeguards designed to protect all parties involved.

The economics of vulnerability

At the heart of the debate is a question confronting governments around the world: when healthcare services become globally tradable, where should regulators draw the line between opportunity and exploitation?

Critics argue that the combination of foreign demand and economic hardship creates conditions that may leave some Nigerian women vulnerable.

“The major legal issues are the vulnerability of the parties involved,” Adejumo said. “Because of economic pressures, some people may not fully understand the long-term implications of what they are agreeing to.”

The concerns extend beyond surrogacy itself. Adejumo pointed to growing debate around egg donation, noting that some women may participate primarily because of financial need.

“The University College Hospital issued guidance discouraging excessive egg donation because some women were doing it out of economic desperation,” he said.

Questions also remain about whether commercial surrogacy arrangements conflict with existing healthcare regulations.

According to Adejumo, Nigeria’s National Health Act discourages the commodification of human tissues and organs, creating uncertainty around compensation structures for egg donors and surrogates.

The ambiguity leaves regulators attempting to govern a rapidly expanding fertility market using laws that were not specifically designed for assisted reproductive technologies.

Walking the line between compensation and commercialisation

The distinction between reasonable compensation and outright commercialisation remains one of the most contested issues in the industry.

Adetola Aderogba, a family lawyer and associate at Wall & Ace LP, notes that many countries draw a legal distinction between altruistic and commercial surrogacy.

“Altruistic surrogacy means the surrogate is compensated only for expenses connected to the pregnancy,” Aderogba explained. “Commercial surrogacy involves payment beyond those expenses.”
Nigeria, however, lacks a clear legal framework defining where that boundary lies.

“There is a very thin line between commercialisation and the original purpose of surrogacy,” she said.
The absence of legal clarity creates risks for intended parents as well as surrogate mothers.

“There are situations where a surrogate could later seek parental rights over the child,” Aderogba said. “The challenge is that we still do not have certainty about the legal status of surrogacy arrangements in Nigeria.”

When borders complicate parenthood

For British families, the legal journey often continues long after the child is born.

Cross-border surrogacy arrangements must navigate multiple legal systems, immigration requirements and parental recognition procedures.

“Most cross-border arrangements rely heavily on contract law,” Aderogba explained. “The parties decide which jurisdiction governs the agreement and how disputes will be resolved.”
Yet even carefully drafted contracts may not eliminate complications.

British courts have become increasingly concerned about arrangements involving anonymous surrogate mothers and intermediary agencies that operate with limited transparency.

A 2025 case involving Lagos-based LifeLink Fertility Clinic highlighted some of those concerns.

The court heard evidence that intended parents had communicated with surrogate mothers only through video calls during which the women were instructed to conceal their identities.

Reviewing the case, Sir Andrew McFarlane, then President of the Family Division, warned that anonymity created significant concerns around consent and potential exploitation.

The warning was reinforced in subsequent judgments, where courts signalled they could refuse parental orders in cases where intended parents knowingly entered opaque arrangements.

The decisions have sent a clear message: while British demand for international surrogacy continues to grow, courts expect transparency and accountability throughout the process.

Nigeria races to catch up

The surge in international demand has intensified pressure on Nigerian lawmakers to establish clearer rules.
Legal scholar Ambrose Esigbemi Umetietie argued in a 2026 research paper that technological advances and international demand have moved far faster than Nigeria’s legal and institutional capacity to regulate them.

The study traces a series of legislative efforts, including the IVF Bill (2015), the ART Regulation Bill (2016), the Surrogacy Bill (2024) and the Women’s Health and Surrogacy Protection Bill (2025).
Together, the proposals reveal a growing shift in thinking among policymakers.

Rather than simply regulating a medical procedure, lawmakers are increasingly focused on preventing exploitation and protecting vulnerable women from becoming participants in an inadequately regulated international fertility market.

Some analysts have even suggested that if comprehensive legislation cannot be enacted quickly, authorities may eventually consider temporarily restricting certain forms of surrogacy until stronger safeguards are in place.

For now, however, demand continues to rise.
As traditional surrogacy hubs become more expensive, more restrictive, or politically unstable, Nigeria is positioning itself as an increasingly important destination in the global fertility economy.
Whether that growth becomes a sustainable healthcare industry or a source of deeper legal and ethical controversy may ultimately depend on how quickly regulators can catch up with a market that is already moving across borders. (BusinessDay)