SURROGACY AND DISDAIN FOR MARRIAGE AMONG EDUCATIONAL-EMPOWERED WOMEN OF PORT HARCOURT, RIVERS STATE

Abstract

Surrogacy is a process where a third party (woman) of childbearing age carries a pregnancy for a commissioning parent with the intention of relinquishing the baby after birth. The effect of this new style of life is mostly common among the educated-empowered women of Port Harcourt due to the forces of globalization, which have a negative impact on traditional African society. It has become a major source of concern among the inhabitants of Port Harcourt because it negates the social norms and values of the people. It is against this backdrop that this paper was undertaken to examine the growth of surrogacy and the increasing disdain for marriage among educationally empowered women of Port Harcourt. The paper adopted the Feminist theory. The population consisted of gynaecologists and educationally empowered women in Port Harcourt. 100 women and 6 gynaecologists were selected through a purposive sampling technique. The study revealed that couples adopt surrogacy when they lack the capacity to bear children. This could be due to the inability of the woman to conceive after many attempts by the couple. The finding also revealed that some couples adopted the surrogates’ mother to give birth to children for the woman to maintain her shape, which the gynaecologists describe as "vanity surrogacy". Again, the study found no link between growing surrogacy and increasing disdain for marriage among educationally empowered women in Port Harcourt City, Rivers State. The study found that efforts are required to raise knowledge and comprehension of surrogacy, as this is vital not only at the level of educating infertile couples but also at the population level