The Kiwi woman being sued by her husband is accused of impregnating their maid with his sperm.

New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has found itself involved in a bitter dispute over an Egyptian businessman's sperm and is doing its diplomatic best to extricate itself.

Mohammad Fouad has taken to court claims his Kiwi wife misused his sperm to get their maid pregnant.

Gulfnews.com reports Fouad is suing his wife for carrying out a surrogacy procedure without his knowledge.

The website says the couple, who married in Auckland in 2008 and live in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), were unable to conceive a baby naturally so decided to find another woman to carry their child.

Because surrogacy is illegal in UAE, they decided to find a woman from outside the country, preferably New Zealand.

However, Fouad says his wife, whose name has been suppressed, secretly arranged to use their young Filipino maid, Elvie Ibanez, as a surrogate, and used sperm she had taken from him for testing at the hospital she worked at.

Fouad told the court he was horrified when he learnt the truth. "I was aghast... mortified when Anna blurted out the truth. Here was my wife who had used my sperm to impregnate a woman she had hired to do our dishes," he said.

"I was raging mad and wanted to alert the authorities, but Anna said if I did, Elvie would be arrested for getting pregnant out of wedlock and my child would be born in jail and deported."

And that is where the ministry comes in.

After Ibanez gave birth to a baby girl, Salwa, in 2010, Fouad says his wife drew up a surrogacy completion agreement between all three parties.

According to Gulfnews.com, Glenda King, the then consular officer of the New Zealand consulate general in Dubai, witnessed the agreement on January 15, 2012.

Fouad is reportedly furious with the consulate. His wife has filed for a divorce and neither of them wishes to raise Salwa.

The ministry said it was aware of the case, but could not confirm "the veracity of the claims being made".

"The New Zealand consulate Dubai provided notarial services as part of a consent for adoption process," its spokesman said.

"It is not the function of New Zealand embassies or consulates to authorise surrogacy agreements."

It could not release any more details for privacy reasons.