I dey ‘pregnant’ for 15 months: Inside di 'miracle' pregnancy scam

Chioma dey insist say Hope, di baby boy wey she hold for her hand, na her son. After eight years of failed attempts to conceive, she see am as her miracle baby.

“I be di owner of my baby,” she tok.

She siddon next to her husband, Ike, for di office of one Nigerian state official wey spend close to one hour dey question di couple.

As di commissioner for women affairs and social welfare for Anambra state, Ify Obinabo get plenty of experience in resolving family disputes - but dis wan be no ordinary disagreement.

Five members of Ike family, wey also dey present for di room, no believe say Hope na di couple biological child.

Chioma claim say she “carry” di child for about 15 months. Di commissioner and Ike family no fit belief am.

Chioma say she bin face pressure from Ike family to get belle. Dem even ask am to marry another woman.

In her desperation, she visit one “clinic” wey dey offer one kain of different “treatment” - one kain scam wey dey take advantage of women desperate to become mothers wey involve di trafficking of babies.

We don change Chioma, Ike and others dia name for dis article to protect dem from attacks for dia communities.

‘Miracle treatment’

Nigeria get one of di highest birth rates for di world, with women wey dey often face social pressure to get belle and even abuse if dem no fit.

Under dis pressure, some women dey go to any lenght to realise dia dream of motherhood.

For over one year, BBC Africa Eye don dey investigate di “cryptic pregnancy” scam.

Scammers dey pose as doctors or nurses to convince women dem get one “miracle fertility treatment” wey dey guaranteed to make dem pregnant. Di first “treatment” dey usually costs hundreds of dollars and involve injection, a drink, or a substance wey dem deyput inside di vagina.

None of di women or officials we speak to during our investigation know for sure wetin dey inside dis drugs. But some women don tell us say e laed to changes for dia body - such as swollen stomachs - wey go further to convince dem say dem dey pregnant.

Women wey dem give di “treatment” dey collect warning not to visit any normal doctor or hospital, as no scan or pregnancy test go see “di baby”, wey di scammers claim say dey grow outside di womb.

Wen time to “deliver” di baby don reach, dem dey tell di women say labour go only start once dem induce dem with one kain “expensive drug”, wey need further payment.

Tori of how di “delivery” dey happens different, but all dey disturbing. Dem dey give some of di women drugs to make dem sleep only for dem to wake up with mark wey be like Caesarean mark. Odas say dem dey give dem injection wey dey make dem drowsy, dey see tins wey dem go come believe say dem dey give birth.

Either way, di women dey end up with babies wey dem supposed to don give birth to.

Chioma tell commissioner Ify say wen her time to “deliver” come, di so-called doctor inject her for her waist and tell her to push. She no tok how she end up with Hope, but she say di delivery bin dey “painful”.

Our team manage to enter one of dis secretive “clinics” - dem connect with one woman known as “Dr Ruth” to her clients - by posing as a couple wey don dey try to conceive for eight years.

Dis so-called "Dr Ruth" dey run her clinic every second Saturday of di month for one run-down hotel for di town of Ihiala, inside Anambra state. Outside her room, plenty women dey wait for her for di hotel corridors, some with big belle.

Di whole atmosphere dey charged with positivity. At one point, big celebration burst inside di room after dem tell one woman say she dey pregnant.

Wen e reach our undercover reporters turn to see her, "Dr Ruth" tell dem say di treatment dey guaranteed to work.

She offer di woman injection, claiming say e go enable di couple to “select” di sex of dia future baby - something wey dey medically impossible.

After dem reject di injection, "Dr Ruth" give dem one sachet of crushed tablets as well as some more medicine for dem to take for housee, along with instructions on wen to have sex.

Dis initial treatment cost 350,000 Naira (just over $200).

Our undercover reporter no take di drugs nor follow any of "Dr Ruth" instructions and return to go see her four weeks later.

After dem use one device wey look like ultrasound scanner across our reporter stomach, something like heartbeat begin sound and "Dr Ruth" congratulate her say she don get belle.

Dem both happy with joy.

Afta delivering di good news, "Dr Ruth" explain how dem go need to pay for one “scarce” and expensive drug wey dey needed for di baby to be born,wey cost between 1.5 and two million naira ($1,000).

Without dis drug, di pregnancy fit extend beyond nine months, "Dr Ruth" claim as she disregard scientific fact, adding say: “Di baby go become malnourished - we go need to build am up again.”

"Dr Ruth" never respond to allegations wey BBC ask her to respond to.

Di extent to which di women wey dey involved truly believe di claims no dey clear.

But clues into why dem go fall for dat kain clear lie fit, in part, fit dey found for online groups where disinformation around pregnancy plenty.

Network of disinformation

Cryptic pregnancy dey recognised as a medical situation, wia a woman no know say she dey pregnant until di late stages.

But during our investigation, BBC find ogbonge misinformation for Facebook groups and pages about dis type of pregnancy.

One woman from US, wey dedicate her entire page to her “cryptic pregnancy", claim say she bin dey pregnant “for years” and say her journey no fit dey explained by science.

Inside closed groups for Facebook, many posts dey use religious terms to hail di bogus “treatment” as a “miracle” for those wey never dey able to conceive.

All of sis misinformation help solidify women belief in di scam.

Members for dia groups no only come from Nigeria, but also from South Africa, di Caribbean, and even US.

Di scammers dey also use dem to sell dia market.

Once someone say e ready to start di scam process, dem go invite dem into more secure WhatsApp groups. Dia, admins dey share information about “cryptic clinics” and wetin di process involve.

‘I still dey confused’

Authorities tell us say to complete di “treatment” di scammers need newborn babies and to do so, dem dey look for women wey dey desperate and vulnerable, many of dem young and pregnant, for a country where abortion dey illegal.

For February 2024, di Anambra state health ministry raid di facility where Chioma “deliver” Hope.

BBC obtain footage of di raid, wey show one big complex made up of two buildings.

Inside one na rooms containing medical equipment - for clients - while for di oda dem bin keep several pregnant women dia against their will. Some bin dey as young as 17.

Some tell us say dem trick dem into going dia, dem say dem no know say dem for sell dia babies to di scammer clients.

Odas, like Uju, wey no be her real name, bin dey too scared to tell her family say she bin dey pregnant and bin dey find a way out. She say dem offer her 800,000 Naira (around $500) for di baby.

Wen dem ask her if she regret her decision to sell her baby, she say: “I still dey confused.”

Commissioner Obinabo, wey don be part of efforts for her state to crack down on di scam, say scammers dey take advantage of vulnerable women like Uju to source for di babies.

At the end of di questioning, commissioner Obinabo threaten to take away baby Hope from Chioma.

But Chioma dey beg for her case, she dey insist say she be a victim herself and say she bin no realise wetin dey go on.

Di commissioner eventually accept her explanation.

For now, Chioma and Ike get to keep dia baby - unless di biological parents come forward to claim am.

But unless attitudes towards women, infertility, reproductive rights and adoption change, scams like dis go continue to bopm, experts warn.