Behind The Prevalence of Baby Factories in Nigeria

Babies rescued from a baby factory in 2011 - Vanguard

I started this post with the brief thoughts I shared about this news that another "baby factory" has been found so soon after a previous one was raided. I honestly feel that those taboos/stigmas I listed there have no place in a 21st century world. They may have worked in the past where the mass media was a word yet to be coined, or where most women got married before 15, not any more.


In case you missed it, these are the cultural/traditional taboos or stigmas;

1. Taboo against proper sex education for teenagers

2. Stigma against teenage pregnancy or any pregnancy out of wedlock

3. Stigma against infertility among couples

4. Stigma against babies born outside a marriage

5. Taboo against open and legal adoption


Nowadays, sex is on the TV and radio all day and used to sell everything including clothes, paper and pencil for 10-year-olds. Most people get married in their twenties or thirties, and as our lifestyle - food, physical activity, etc has changed so has our physiology. Infertility for both men and women is on the increase. It is time we faced these issues squarely and not keep burying our head in the sand hoping for our religion or bygone culture to save us.

If not, as we hear and thank God for miracle babies, twins, triplets, [and even a woman that had, was it 11 babies in one year?] from couples that have been infertile for years, so also will we keep hearing and damning unscrupulous agents who exploit young girls by promising them free healthcare and money to either get pregnant or give up their babies.

Following fro that, it is obvious that outside of these core issues are poverty and the lack of effective systems in almost all spheres of Nigeria. The health and welfare system is, in my opinion, one of the worst off. So while these must also be tackled at the same time, I believe it is only when we begin to speak out and address the above taboos that illegal baby trafficking will reduce.

Because, that is what this is. Baby factories are an illegal channel to connect two parties who need something. Not that I do not believe that an infertile couple can get pregnant after years of waiting, there are true stories of that happening, but I have also seen enough of the opposite to know that a secret adoption or plain child trafickking is more usually the case.

Like fellow blogger ZouZous will say, may we be free o...