Nigeria, Oct. 4 -- Across Nigeria, more couples struggling with infertility are turning to surrogacy as an alternative path to parenthood.

Once viewed as taboo, the practice is gaining quiet acceptance among middle and upper-class families seeking alternatives to adoption or assisted reproduction.

But experts warn that its rapid, unregulated growth is creating new ethical and legal challenges, with poor women increasingly at risk of exploitation in the absence of clear national laws or oversight mechanisms.

Health and gender experts who spoke with PT Health Watch say the country's legal vacuum and social stigma around surrogacy call for urgent public discussion and policy reform.

From a medical standpoint, surrogacy is a process in wh...