The Lux Terra Chapel of the Catholic Church in Apo, has decried exploitation linked to the practice of surrogacy in the country.
This is contained in a communiqué by the Chaplain, Rev. Fr. George Ehusani at the end of a Mother’s Day event held in the chapel on April 19.
The communiqué was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria Abuja on Wednesday.
Ehusani said that the chapel marked the celebration alongside Catholic communities nationwide, highlighting the dignity, sanctity and beauty of motherhood among Christians.
He said that the event featured a talk by Dr Gloria Ode, a reproductive health specialist, who highlighted abuses linked to the rising resort to surrogate motherhood among single women and married couples in Nigeria.
He said that Ode noted that some practices amounted to abuse of the female body and an affront to the divine vocation and dignity of motherhood, drawing concern from participants at the gathering.
He said that while acknowledging the pain of childless couples, participants raised concerns over exploitation of poor young women whose eggs were harvested for IVF procedures, often for meagre compensation.
He also said that participants decried cases where women rented out their wombs for paltry sums, after undergoing complex and invasive medical procedures with limited awareness of long-term physical and psychological consequences.
He added that discussants said such practices reduced motherhood to economic transactions and amounted to trafficking in gametes, organs and bodies of vulnerable women involved in surrogacy arrangements.
According to him, they described as troubling, a trend, where some affluent women without infertility challenges resort to surrogacy to preserve body shape potentially affected by pregnancy and childbirth.
”Participants observed that IVF and surrogate motherhood remain largely unregulated in Nigeria’s medical practice, raising ethical and legal concerns within the health and social sectors.
”They called on stakeholders, including Christian leaders, to pressure government to establish effective regulatory frameworks for IVF and surrogate motherhood practices in the country.”
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