Catholic Bishops in Nigeria have raised alarm over what they described as the abuse of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) treatment, warning that even university students now sell their eggs and sperm to fertility clinics for money.
The warning came on Sunday at the opening session of the 2nd 2025 plenary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), held at the Catholic Diocese of Ikot Ekpene in Obot Akara, Akwa Ibom State.
In his address, the President of CBCN, Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, identified four key issues of concern to the Church: the erosion of education in the country, abuse of IVF treatment among couples, oil exploration in the Niger Delta, and environmental degradation.
Ugorji called on dioceses and religious congregations to benchmark their schools against national minimum standards and ensure their institutions meet the requirements recently issued by the Federal Government.
He said, “Now that the government has issued a new national policy on non-state schools to set national minimum standards, we want to look into the erosion of educational standards taking place in miracle examination centers across the country, where examination malpractice is facilitated in the final examinations conducted by WAEC and NECO, respectively. These centers undermine the integrity of the education system in Nigeria and should be called to order.”
Turning to the rise of fertility clinics across the country, the Archbishop cautioned that while some are run by qualified professionals, many are in the hands of unlicensed practitioners, posing grave dangers to clients.
“Though some of them are run by professionals, many are manned by unqualified and unlicensed practitioners, making clients who patronize them risk financial exploitation, medical complications, permanent infertility and even death. This situation urgently calls for government’s regulation and ethical guidelines.” he explained.
On the moral concerns of IVF among Catholic faithful, Ugorji expressed worry that financial desperation is pushing students into selling their reproductive material.
He said, “Even university students sell their eggs and sperms to fertility clinics as commodities for IVF procedures in the quest for money. It is therefore important to draw their attention to the teaching of the Church which considers IVF greatly immoral.
“Apart from its separation of the unitive and procreative aspect of the marital act, the Church teaches that each human being and each human embryo has an inherent dignity and a right to life and opposes any procedure that commodifies it or leads to its disposal or uses it for its verification,” he added.
