Culture of survival: determinants and consequences of surrogate marriage among the Igbo southeast, Nigeria

Innocent A Nwosu

doi:10.21767/2393-8854-C1-003

Culture of survival: determinants and consequences of surrogate marriage among the Igbo southeast, Nigeria

1^st Edition of international Conference on Archaeology and Anthropology
October 01-02, 2018 London, UK

Innocent A Nwosu

Federal University Ndufu Alike Ikwo, Nigeria

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Glob J Res Rev 2018

DOI: 10.21767/2393-8854-C1-003

Abstract

Marriage is a socially sanctioned union between spouses. Procreation is one major reason for marriage but in Africa, the choice of whom to marry is determined by culture. In Igboland, different types of marriages exist including surrogate marriage, which is the practice of a woman marrying one or more women. The major aim of surrogate marriage is procreation. However, surrogate marriage causes social and health conflicts. In spite of this, no serious attempt have been made to determine why young girls enter into such marriage or the consequences of surrogate marriage among the Igbo. As a result, this study seeks to determine reasons why young females enter into such marriages and the conflicts that arise from such marriage. To achieve this, the study adopted qualitative research design. Data collection was through in-depth interviews. The study conducted in Mbano, southeast Nigeria used a sample of 52 participants (women) selected through snowball sampling. The study revealed that surrogate marriage which has lasted for a long time in Igboland, is being sustained by several factors including infertility. It was also found that young girls enter into such marriage as a result of poverty, physical or social challenges (stigmatization). The study has shown that wives of female-husbands do have sexual intercourse with multiple partners unprotected in order to get children. Therefore, surrogate marriage becomes the easiest conduit for the spread of STDs including HIV/AIDS. Surrogate marriage causes marital conflicts, psychological trauma and death. Its elimination will save humans from health, social and psychological problems.