Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the (i) risks to women involved in commercial surrogacy arrangements in Nigeria, including (a) maternal mortality, (b) contractual conditions and (c) time for women to review and consent to contracts and (ii) potential impact of those risks on her Department’s policy on safeguarding in international surrogacy cases.

The UK believes that all people have the right to make their own informed decisions about if, whether, when and how to have children. As part of a range of assisted conception options, surrogacy may be an option, but it requires laws and regulations to protect the health, wellbeing and rights of the individuals involved. International commercial surrogacy arrangements can involve risks in some circumstances, especially where there are high rates of maternal mortality, such as in Nigeria, or weak regulatory frameworks. It should be noted that, through the UK's health programming, including the Lafiya programme, we are working with the Government of Nigeria to improve maternal and reproductive health care.