Miracle cures for fertility: How desperate women are getting money out of their pockets

Ihiala (Nigeria) - For many women, the pressure to have children is high. Those who then have problems getting pregnant are desperate and, unfortunately, are also a perfect target for perfidious scammers.

That's why the BBC took a closer look at the fertility scam in Nigeria and discovered some shocking facts.

The fraudsters pretend to be doctors or nurses and want to make hopeless women believe that they have a miracle cure for fertility.

In most cases, the first "treatment" costs several hundred euros, and the next ones get more and more expensive.

The women are initially given pills or injections that no one can say exactly what they are made of.

Some of those affected report that this caused their stomachs to swell and they were even more convinced of a pregnancy - which never happened.

Women who undergo further treatment also report that they have actually given birth. Some are anaesthetized and then wake up with a kind of "caesarean section". Others report drowsiness-inducing injections with hallucinations, during which they believed they were giving birth.

All of them end up holding a baby in their arms that is most likely not their own. The poor infants are probably trafficked to the shameless fraudsters.

BBC managed to smuggle a reporter into one of the "clinics" for the desperate women under false pretenses.

This so-called "clinic" was run by the alleged doctor "Dr. Ruth" every second Saturday of the month in a hotel.

Rows and rows of women bustled outside the door, many with bulging bellies. The reporter - who said she had been trying to get pregnant for 8 years without success - was offered an injection straight away. In addition, the sex of the child could allegedly even be predetermined.

After refusing the injection, a bag of crushed pills followed, along with instructions specifying times for sexual intercourse. This alone cost almost 200 euros.

After a month, the reporter went back to "Dr. Ruth". Of course, she had not taken the pills, but after a brief examination, her pregnancy was confirmed.

Now, however, she had to find the money for pills that were absolutely necessary for the birth of the child - this time for around 1100 euros. It was claimed that the pregnancy could otherwise last longer than nine months and the child would be malnourished.