36B Jay Jay Oladimeji St, Ikate, Lekki 106104, Lagos State, Nigeria
info@avalawpractice.com
Building families across borders, through assisted reproduction, surrogacy, and adoption, with clarity where the law is still catching up.
The divergence of views, with respect to surrogacy and cross border family structuring within the Nigerian legal system combined with the absence of judicial precedent, creates a highly technical and unsettled legal environment. Thus, it is one that calls for thorough legal guardianship and specialist expertise at every stage of structuring an arrangement. Several bills addressing surrogacy and assisted reproduction remain pending before the National Assembly, underscoring how much this landscape is still evolving.
Adoption follows a more settled legal path, though it carries its own cross-border complexity. Where a family adopts across borders, whether Nigerians adopting from abroad or prospective parents outside Nigeria adopting a Nigerian child, the process is complicated by Nigeria’s private and public international law arrangements. We advise on structuring the Nigerian side of an adoption to anticipate and minimise these recognition gaps, working alongside counsel in the receiving jurisdiction where required.
Our support extends across every stage of the process, whether the matter involves surrogacy, assisted reproduction, or adoption. From structuring the underlying arrangement to coordinating travel logistics, managing cross-border immigration filings, and preparing parental, parentage, or adoption applications that secure legal recognition of the parent-child relationship across jurisdictions.
We support Nigerian families returning from a surrogacy arrangement abroad by coordinating travel and re-entry, securing parentage recognition and citizenship documentation, and managing immigration processes for a child born via surrogacy overseas.
We guide intended parents considering or pursuing a surrogacy arrangement in Nigeria by structuring agreements within the current legal environment, coordinating with fertility providers, and supporting travel arrangements and cross-border immigration filings.
We guide prospective adoptive parents through the Nigerian adoption process, including eligibility requirements, the applicable state Child Rights Law, and the court procedure for securing an adoption order.
We advise Nigerian and diaspora families pursuing adoption across borders, addressing the recognition gap created by public and private international law, and coordinating with counsel in the receiving jurisdiction to secure the child's immigration status and the legal recognition of the adoption.
We provide regulatory and compliance advisory, contract structuring, and risk mitigation guidance for clinics and providers operating in an evolving regulatory environment.
We support surrogacy and gestational carrier agencies by structuring matching agreements, reviewing surrogate and intended parent contracts, and providing compliance guidance within Nigeria's unregulated surrogacy landscape.
We draft and facilitate surrogacy arrangements and sperm and egg donation agreements between Nigerian parties. This includes preparing matching-stage documentation, defining the terms of the arrangement, outlining expense and compensation provisions, and establishing consent and disclosure terms for donor arrangements. These agreements record and structure the parties' intentions in line with legal and ethical frameworks.
We support families through the legal aspects of adoption in Nigeria, from advising on eligibility and the applicable state Child Rights Law to preparing the documentation required for the court process, and, where the adoption crosses borders, coordinating the steps needed to secure recognition and immigration status in the receiving jurisdiction.
We understand this is a deeply personal journey. Our team provides specialist legal guidance with discretion, expertise, and compassion at every stage.