LEGAL ISSUES

Contemporary reproductive technology has in recent times made extraordinary advances in responding to the desire of women and men to have children. The success of these advancements in developed countries and lately Nigeria has made it possible for couples who would otherwise have been unable to conceive and bear children to avail themselves of these techniques that are today commonly known as “Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART). This essay examines the meaning, the concept and the historical development of Assisted Reproductive Technology. It goes further to explain in details the various types of assisted reproductive technology. This research also examines the legal issues such as legitimacy, successions, the status of a child, citizenship of a child which would arise as a result of assisted reproductive technology. The succession and inheritance rights of the children of assisted reproduction in Nigeria are not exactly as clear and settled as those of the adopted child even though such children can ordinarily trace their genetic ties to their genetic parents. This thesis examines the position of the law with respect to assisted reproduction in other jurisdiction and also the need for laws to be made in Nigeria to protect the rights of children born through assisted reproduction