Chimamanda Adichie mourns the loss of one of her twin sons

Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie and her family have announced the death of her son Nkanu Nnamdi, one of the twin boys she and her husband, Dr. Ivara Esege, welcomed through surrogacy in 2025.

According to a statement from Omawumi Ogbe, Adichie’s spokesperson, little Nnamdi passed away on Wednesday, January 7, “after a brief illness.”

“The family is devastated by this profound loss, and we ask that their privacy be respected during this incredibly difficult time,” the statement said.

Adichie had surprised the world in February 2025 when she revealed in an interview in the UK that she and her husband had welcomed twins via surrogacy. Surrogacy involves a woman carrying a baby on behalf of another person or couple, typically using the intended parents’ sperm and eggs.

In May 2025, speaking to Nigerian journalist Chude, Adichie expressed no regrets about using surrogacy, emphasizing the importance of normalizing non-traditional paths to parenthood.

“I want more women to feel no shame in talking about reaching motherhood through non-traditional means,” she said. “The story of my twins is real because it cannot be hidden—the existence of two perfect human beings speaks for itself.”

Adichie, an outspoken feminist, has long advocated globally for women’s rights and equality. This personal tragedy comes amid a series of losses in her life: she lost both her parents within a span of months. Her father, James Nwoye Adichie, a statistics professor, died suddenly from kidney failure complications in 2020, while her mother, the first female registrar of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, passed away in March 2021.