American citizens have been cautioned in regards to seeking surrogacy services in Kenya.The caution was issued by Sensible Surrogacy, unethical IVF/surrogacy consultancy with client support in Europe and North America. The consultancy firm argued and maintained that the decision was based on the risks of unregulated surrogacy programs generally, the lower quality of medical care in the country,as well as the general risk to some travelers in Nairobi.
Bill Houghton, director of Sensible Surrogacy stated: “With restrictions appearing in southern and southeast Asia, several surrogacy agencies are offering low-cost options in Kenya and similar destinations.”
Houghton went ahead to state that the rate of risks is high and the chances of success in Kenya are limited with cases of infant mortality in Kenya for 2017 recorded at 37 per 1,000 according to the CIA World Fact Book.The CIA Fact Book did also name Kenya as the 49th most dangerous place to have a child worldwide out of 225 countries.
He also stated that since most of their clients are LGBT couples and Kenya is homophobic, they should avoid seeking surrogacy services in the East African country.
In Kenya surrogacy is allowed under the Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill, previously known as the In-Vitro Fertilization Bill. The Bill was modified to increase the age of the surrogate mother from 18 to 25 years.Once the child is delivered, the surrogate host gives it to the commissioning couple guided by the terms of a contract signed between the two parties. It involves retrieval of eggs from the donor woman, their fertilization using her man’s sperms in a laboratory and transfer of the resulting embryo into the surrogate mother’s womb.