Nigeria Reels Under ‘Cryptic Pregnancy’ Scam. All Your Questions Answered

What is Nigeria’s cryptic pregnancy scam?

BBC Africa Eye has investigated a disturbing fertility scam in Anambra State, Nigeria where desperate women are shelling hundreds of dollars for this treatment that gives desperate women false pregnancies.

What constitutes this “cryptic” pregnancy?

Women who come to these clinics are warned not to visit doctors or hospitals as the “baby” will not be detected by any scan or test, since the scammers claim they are growing outside the womb.

What comes under the treatments?

The women who come in for these treatments are given mysterious injections that claim that couples can “select” the sex of their future baby which is medically impossible. They are also handed crushed pills, some to take home, a substance inserted into the vagina and instructions on when to have intercourse.

What happens after the pregnancy reaches full term?

When it is time to deliver the baby, the “pregnant” women are told labour can only be induced with a “rare and expensive drug” requiring payment, post which they are sedated and wake up with a Caesarean-like incision mark. Others are given an injection which makes them hallucinate and believe they are giving birth.

What do these scams charge?

The initial “pre-pregnancy” treatment costs 350,000 naira ($205; £165). The expensive drug that induces labour costs around 1.5 and two million naira ($1,180; £945).

How do the scammers complete the “treatment”?

According to authorities, the scammers look for new-born babies and women who are young, pregnant and vulnerable in a country where abortion is not legal. Some women are tricked and some sell their babies. A woman who was too scared to tell her family about her pregnancy, was offered 800,000 naira ($470; £380) for the baby.