Kate Henshaw questions Nigeria’s surrogacy process, highlighting risks for financially struggling women.
She calls for legal safeguards to protect surrogates’ health, emotions, and post-delivery care nationwide.
Nollywood actress Kate Henshaw has raised concerns regarding the process of surrogacy in Nigeria, warns that improper regulation risks the exploitation of women in vulnerable financial situations.
Speaking during an interview on News Central, Henshaw stressed the urgent need for clear and enforceable laws to protect the rights and welfare of surrogates. She emphasized that surrogacy, while offering hope to families unable to conceive, must be handled with great care.
“Surrogacy is a means to exploit people who are not financially capable, you just pay them as they have a child for me. But then what will, what will make you want to look after them? Are you bound under any laws or legal framework to make sure that they are taken care of before and after they deliver the baby for you?”
She questioned the legal protections available for women who act as surrogates and called attention to the lack of standardized documentation or agreements in the country.
“What are the documents that are signed? There’s just so much around it. Surrogacy is a process of giving hope to those who cannot have or have medical complications and want to bring forth a child.”
The actress also highlighted the emotional and physical toll surrogacy can take on women, adding that it shouldn’t be treated casually.
“It shouldn’t be something to be done lightly, there are lots of emotions attached to carrying a child, apart from the changes in the body. There are mental changes. Women, there’s so much, they can die, you know? So it shouldn’t be something to be just thought of lightly.”
Calling on lawmakers to take action, she concluded saying,
“I hope Nigeria rises to me. I hope we have laws that will work and not be suggestions, like you always say.”
