Bill to regulate surrogacy scales second reading in House of Reps

A bill for an Act to establish the Nigeria Surrogacy Regulatory Commission has scaled second reading in the House of Representatives.

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The bill, which sought monitoring and supervision of surrogacy arrangements and to provide for the registration and regulation of surrogacy, was sponsored by Rep. Olamijuwonlo Alao-Akala (APC-Oyo) at plenary on Thursday.

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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) explains that surrogacy is a process in which a woman carries and delivers a child or children for a couple struggling to have children or an individual who wishes to have a baby but does not want to go through pregnancy at agreed terms.

Speaking to newsmen in an interview after the plenary, Alao-Akala said the bill, when passed into law, will protect the rights of all the parties involved, including the child.

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He said that the bill seeks to eliminate all forms of discrimination and exploitation and will support and encourage struggling couples to have children.

“This kind of law is not a law of force, it is a law of choice because this is about you wanting to have children and choosing to say, Would I go this route to have my children?

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“It’s not a law that you will be binding; that’s saying everybody must have children through surrogacy, it is not a binding law.

“It is just a law that allows anyone to be involved in such things in this country, in any part of the country, there are laws guiding it.

“I know it is not going to be accepted fully everywhere at once because of culture and religion,Like I said, it is not a forceful law, but a law put in place so that, when anybody wants to get involved in it, there are laws guiding it,” he said.