For intended parents exploring surrogacy in Ghana, the first task is to understand how a proposed arrangement would work for their own family. That means looking beyond treatment and matching to the legal steps after birth, the baby's medical care and the documents needed to travel home.
Before paying a deposit or beginning treatment, obtain independent advice in Ghana and in the country where you intend to live with your child. A provider can explain its services, but that explanation should sit alongside advice from the professionals responsible for your medical care and legal position.
Understand what Ghanaian law does and does not establish
Ghana's Registration of Births and Deaths Act 2020, section 22, contains provisions for registering births following surrogacy. It provides for applications to the High Court for parental orders before or after birth, subject to statutory conditions. It also states that, without a court order naming another person as mother, the woman who gives birth is registered as the mother.
Those provisions should not be treated as a complete assurance about every aspect of a programme. The US Department of State's Ghana guidance warns that surrogacy is largely unregulated, agreements may not be enforceable, and foreign intended parents can face difficulties with documentation and citizenship.
Ask an independent Ghanaian lawyer to explain the current procedure, deadlines, consent requirements and legal protections in your particular case. Obtain that advice before treatment, when there is time to address problems. A general statement that surrogacy is possible in Ghana is not enough to establish that your proposed arrangement is suitable.
Check your eligibility and your child's route home
Your nationality, residence, family circumstances and any genetic connection to the child are details to discuss with specialist advisers. Ask them to distinguish legal parenthood in Ghana from recognition of parenthood in your home country, the child's citizenship and permission to travel.
For example, the UK fertility regulator's overseas surrogacy guidance explains that being named on a foreign birth certificate does not remove the need for the relevant UK parental order process. This is a UK-specific example, not a rule for every international family.
Check your own government's consular guidance and obtain advice about the documents your circumstances require. Do not assume that a birth certificate, a court order and a passport are interchangeable, or that securing one automatically secures the others.
LGBTQ+ intended parents should also obtain current advice on local law and personal safety. The US travel guidance warns of criminalisation of same-sex sexual activity and violence against lesbian and gay travellers. A provider's willingness to discuss services does not resolve those risks.
Identify the clinic and the people responsible for care
Ask which clinic would provide treatment and who would be responsible for the surrogate's pregnancy care. Request the treating professionals' names and qualifications, and ask how their registration and the facility's authorisation can be checked with the relevant Ghanaian authorities.
Discuss the assessment of the surrogate, screening of anyone providing eggs or sperm, and the proposed embryo transfer plan directly with the clinical team. Ask what results and explanations you will receive, with appropriate consent, and how medical concerns are handled. A package description is not a substitute for a clinical consultation.
If success rates are quoted, ask what is being measured: a positive pregnancy test, an ongoing pregnancy or a live birth. Ask which patients and treatment cycles are included. This makes the figures more useful than an unexplained headline percentage.
If donor eggs, sperm or existing embryos are involved, clarify the consent documents, records and any transport permissions needed before making arrangements to move reproductive material between clinics or countries.
Keep the surrogate's wellbeing central
Ask how the surrogate receives understandable information about the proposed treatment, risks and agreement. She should have space to ask questions privately, access independent advice and communicate concerns without financial or personal pressure.
Discuss practical support as well as consent. Ask who arranges transport, which hospital would provide maternity care, and how recovery and follow-up would be supported after delivery. Establish whether counselling is available and how everyone can access it.
Intended parents should seek a relationship that respects the surrogate's privacy and decisions about her own care. Medical care must be discussed with her, not merely arranged around the preferences of others. ASRM's ethics guidance on gestational carriers is a useful professional reference on autonomy; it should not be mistaken for a statement of Ghanaian law.
Understand the full financial commitment
Request a written, itemised budget identifying what is included, what is excluded and who receives each payment. Clarify the costs of treatment, medicines, donor services if relevant, surrogate support, legal work and birth registration.
Ask separately about further treatment attempts, pregnancy complications, neonatal care, additional legal work and a longer stay after birth. Have your lawyer review cancellation and refund terms, the handling of funds, and what happens if a provider cannot deliver a service.
Confirm any insurance cover directly with the insurer or an appropriately qualified adviser. Ask specifically about the surrogate, the baby from birth and the intended parents' travel, rather than assuming one policy covers everyone. Keep a contingency budget and avoid making plans that depend on the earliest suggested completion date.
Plan for birth and the weeks afterwards
Before the pregnancy is advanced, establish a written plan for the intended parents' arrival, the hospital admission and communication during labour. Ask who can make decisions for the baby under the applicable law and what the hospital requires before discharge.
Identify where the newborn would receive routine and emergency care, including any specialist care that might be needed. Arrange advice about feeding, safe accommodation and fitness to travel. Make sure the surrogate's recovery arrangements are included, rather than treating discharge of the baby as the end of everyone's responsibilities.
Take travel health advice well before departure. The UK government's Ghana health guidance identifies risks including malaria and yellow fever and advises checking vaccination requirements. Ask a travel health professional about your circumstances, and arrange appropriate paediatric advice for caring for a newborn in Ghana.
Allow time for documents and travel
Work backwards from the documents required by your child's destination country. Ask your legal advisers for a checklist identifying who prepares each document, when it can be obtained and whether translation, authentication or other verification is needed.
Keep secure copies of the documents your advisers identify as necessary, which may include consent records, relevant medical records, court orders and the birth certificate. Establish who will help correct an error or respond to a request for additional evidence.
For British intended parents, UK government guidance on surrogacy overseas warns that passport applications can take several months. Other nationalities must check their own procedures. Plan accommodation, work commitments and funds around the possibility of a longer stay, and do not book a fixed return date on the assumption that the baby's paperwork will be immediate.
Begin with a detailed consultation
If you are considering working with Afrigha Surrogacy, use an initial consultation to ask how the proposed programme would apply to your circumstances. Request the names of the clinic and legal professionals involved, a written explanation of the services offered and the opportunity to seek independent advice before committing.
An agency can be one point of contact, but it is important to know which organisation is responsible for each part of the process. Ask who coordinates appointments, who answers medical questions, who represents each party legally and who helps with documents after birth.
The decision to proceed should rest on answers you can verify and a plan that protects the surrogate and child as well as the intended parents. Taking time to establish that plan is a necessary part of preparing for parenthood across borders.
This article provides general information, not individual medical, legal or immigration advice. Requirements and official guidance can change. Obtain current, independent professional advice before committing to an arrangement.