“I have zero regrets,” Adichie speaks on surrogacy

Multiple award-winning author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has opened up about her decision to welcome twin sons via surrogacy.

Speaking during the WithChude live talk, a podcast hosted by media entrepreneur Chude Jideonwo, Adichie addressed the public reaction and social pressures surrounding non-traditional paths to motherhood.

She expressed her disappointment over the way her personal decision became politicized online. She stated that she however chose to be transparent about the surrogacy to counter harmful narratives that could pressure other women.

“There are certain things that you cannot hide, you cannot hide the existence of two perfect human beings. People just went off with this thing, ‘she’s 47, she’s had babies,’ and I don’t like to lie about things that can be consequential for other people,” she said.

“I felt that there were many women who would then be pressured by people and be told, ‘Look she’s 47 and she had twins, what about you?”

“A viewer said to me that I looked so fantastic for someone who just had babies and I’m not going to say oh, thank you because that’s a lie. So I said ‘well, they were born by a surrogate,’ and apparently, I hear that there was a bit of noise about that.”

“My boys are so precious to me, and I hated that anything about them would become politicized – so on the one hand I wished I hadn’t talked about it but on the other hand there is no way I am going to lie and claim that I have babies that I didn’t birth myself.”

While speaking on the stigma surrounding her fertility challenges, Adichie stated, “I think there is so much shame around issues of fertility, that I just think it’s too much of a burden for women.”

“Women are ashamed when they have fibroids, women are ashamed when they have trouble getting pregnant, and I don’t believe in that sort of shame.”

Responding to critics who view surrogacy as dehumanizing, she acknowledged that surrogacy can be done responsibly.

“They think that you cannot rent a woman’s body, they argue that it’s dehumanizing. I think it can be, but I think it matters how it’s done. It can be done ethically.”

“Also, the same people will say that a woman can do whatever she wants with her body. There’s a contradiction there…that was what all the noise was all about,” she said.

Despite the backlash on her decision, Adichie stands firmly emphasizing she has no regrets and out rightly declared the joy her children have brought her.

“I am hoping that if anything good comes out of this, it would be that more people will feel less ashamed of talking about reaching motherhood through non-traditional means.”

“There are other women who have babies by surrogates but they sort of go and hide for nine months or people who adopt babies and they go and hide because our society is so judgmental, and I don’t think that that is good for anybody.”

“I think my daughter and my babies are the greatest gifts I’ve been given, so zero-regrets,” she said.

Adichie further expressed her commitment to raising her twin sons with values that promote gender equality and respect for women.