Category: Surrogacy

“I thought that selling an egg would be like giving blood, like checking the Organ Donation box on your driver’s license, like giving away something you’d never wanted or even noticed much to begin with. And yes, at first, I was just in it for the money. It wasn’t about altruism or feminism, or any other ism. It was about the cash…I was going to take that money and I was going to try to save my father.” (Weiner 12). Jennifer Weiner writes about the journey a college-aged woman, Julia Strauss, takes as a surrogate mother. In the book, Julie is approached by a man in a mall and offered $20,000 to carry a baby of his wife and him.

Surrogate mothering comes in two forms. A woman can be a traditional surrogate as she uses her own egg and is inseminated with a man’s sperm. A gestational surrogate, on the other hand, is implanted with another woman’s egg that has been fertilized with the sperm of her male partner. In either case, the surrogate carries the baby for the couple and is paid for the service of using her body to carry and birth the baby. Surrogate mothering is a highly controversial topic. Surrogate mothering is illegal in many countries and some states in the United States. Surrogacy should be legal because it has many benefits and it is ultimately the women’s decision on what she wants to do with her body.

Women often use a surrogate when they cannot get pregnant or carry a baby themselves. Surrogacy is a good option for women who are unable to have their own children. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 10% of women are physically unable to birth a child. Women struggle to birth a child for many reasons including sexual transmitted disease, not-ovulating, blocked fallopian tubes, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, or cancer treatments. That is approximately 6.1 million women. With the help of a surrogate, couples incapable of carrying a baby themselves now can have a family due to another woman’s actions, and that baby is genetically related to one or both parents.

Some people argue that it is morally wrong for a surrogate to get paid. It is for religious reasons that some argue that women should not ‘sell their body’ to another person for pleasure or success. However, after reading the viewpoint from Independent Digital News and Media Limited, if a woman is strong enough to carry a baby for nine months and not take it home after delivering it, she deserves the money she is paid. “I would not condemn surrogate mothers who are physically robust and emotionally stable enough to be able to bring lifelong happiness to a childless couple.” (The Independent). Surrogate mothering can help women financially in so many ways. As stated in the novel Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner, the money paid towards the women helping the couple was going to help her father live and pay for medical bills.

Many surrogates claim that they don’t do it for the money. Some find it gratifying to help a couple in need. One case in particular, Tawni, a thirty three year old grocery store manager was only eighteen years old when she received the news from her doctor that she was unable to birth a child. Tawni had an infection that affected her fallopian tubes. She then got married soon after, and magically birthed her first child. After Tawni had her second child, she decided the only right and just thing to do was to become a surrogate. Some women take for granted the ability to give birth. Tawni appreciated every second of her children’s births because there was a point in her life when she could not give birth. She was so anxious to get back onto the job after her second child, “later, when I was pregnant with my own third child, the same couple called me again and asked if I would carry another for them. I said, ‘Sorry, the womb is occupied. As soon as it’s free, I’ll let you know!’ (Bernstein). Tawni truly showed her true colors as a person when she decided to help others with something she used to struggle with. This shows true character within a woman who is willing to put her life at risk, to make another family’s hearts fulfilled.

Many critics of surrogate mothering claim that there is emotional distress caused to the surrogate when she has to give the baby she carried for nine month to another couple. Mr. and Mrs. W used a surrogate, NT, to carry their child while Mrs. W underwent cancer treatments. Unfortunately NT wanted full custody of the child after giving birth. NT claimed that there was domestic violence in the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. W, but at the end of the day, the decision was made by the court. “The court had to consider only which household could best meet the baby’s needs as she grew up.” (Harris 1). This has shown to be one of the recurring issues within surrogate mothers. It is understandable that a woman is emotionally attached to a child she delivers, but it is not what she signed up for. In states where surrogacy is legal, there are agencies that provide legal services to both surrogates and their commissioning couple to avoid situations like this.

Not all women are like NT though. Heidi and Tawni have both been surrogate mothers for quite some time now. Heidi, a store manager, tells journalist Nell Bernstein about her journey as both an egg donor and surrogate on seven different occasions, and plans to continue as long as she can. She has to take medications and take fertility shots, which can put her in danger, but feels it is worth the risk. “There are also a few medicines that really burn, but I have never said to myself, Why am I doing this? I know why I’m doing it: I love to help people.” (Berstein). Although Heidi did not fully give birth in all seven instances she donated her eggs, she still went through a dangerous process to bring joy to families. Clients in these battlefields such as Heidi and Tawni were happy to be helping families in desire. Tawni would update the mother with her child’s progress every single week. “Right after that first baby was born, my doctor wanted to hand her to me. I said, ‘No, give her to the mom.’ I know the importance of holding your baby those first few critical minutes.” (Bernstein). Tawni has been a surrogate mother three times now, and has had the responsibility of giving the baby away right after birth. She could not help but smile with delightment when she watched the parents gaze into their newborn’s eyes. Tawni was once impregnated with triplets for a couple. At the same time, this puts the surrogate mother at risk with a high-risk pregnancy and fertility shots. She was worried the couple would want to reduce the pregnancy, which would mean they would have to remove an embryo and give it to another surrogate for a better chance of survival. The triplets ended up being born about a month premature and Tawni had to stay away from her family in the hospital for six weeks. She claims everyone finds her crazy, but once she found something she loved to do, she kept doing it for the sake of others happiness.

Surrogate mothering has many benefits. It exemplifies a woman’s right to choose what to do with her body and the freedom to do it. Surrogacy also allows women who can not bear nor carry their own child to still raise a genetically related child. Surrogate mothers have demonstrated tremendous character by contributing to the greater good by giving couples the gift of life. Surrogate mothering has given the opportunity for women who are unable to birth children themselves to start a family. As responsible citizens of the United States, we the people need to help legalize the service of surrogacy. When one sees the backstories why some women choose to carry a baby for another woman, it should be nothing but clear that this act should be legalized. The positives outweigh the negatives in countless ways. If surrogacy is legalized, those negative effects can be minimized, if not negated.

Part 1: Introduction, literature review and methodology

In her article entitled “Transnational Surrogacy in India: Interrogating power and women’s agency” author Daisy Deomampo addresses the discrimination and predicaments that women face with transnational surrogacy in India. Transnational surrogacy is when parents, single parents and even same sex families around the world who want children through egg donation or in vitro fertilization can look for a woman from another country to carry and birth their child for them. Deomampo also discusses how women take action to overcome the issues of inequality they face in their lives. As well as how they enact agency to get what they need or desire despite the inequality they face and also explains the consequences of their acts of agency particularly as they break cultural norms. (Deomampo, 2013, pg. 168)

When doing research the author interrogated many women in India to go look at what is going on but there are two women Deomampo focuses on in the article named Nishi and Antara from Mumbai, India who explain the challenges they went through with being surrogate mothers in their home country. Furthermore, there are a few concepts that she talks about in her article which are agency and power. She looks at how their power is undermined by the cultural norms in India and also how they use acts of agency to get what they need in terms of being a participant of surrogacy. It is common for women who are surrogate mothers in India to leave their husbands due to drunkenness and having abusive relationships and also because they disagree with their choices to become surrogates. The women see surrogacy as an opportunity to help their families with the money they receive. The methods that the author used included interviews because she went around India talking to surrogate mothers about the issue. Especially the women Nishi and Antara who explain the problems they faced.

Part 2: Nishi’s story

Nishi is a woman from Mumbai, India who was a participant of transnational surrogacy. In which, she cared for other parent’s children from another country. Deomampo selected Nishi to be in her article because apart from all the women she interviewed she was the only one to speak English, and had also went out of her way to educate herself about the subject of surrogacy. Her role in transnational surrogacy is because she defied the cultural norms and actually educated herself on the subject of surrogacy. Nishi wanted to learn more about surrogacy before going ahead and doing the procedures required which most women who were interviewed by Deomampo never did educate themselves first. (Deomampo,2013, pg. 175) .

Nishi was also a victim of discrimination and abuse, because her own husband was against her becoming a surrogate mother, which caused her to separate for her husband. Another example of the inequality that she faced was through her agent-caretaker named Shanti. Agent-caretakers are those who look after the women before and after their time of surrogate procedures. that did not bother much of taking care of her during the time of her being a surrogate mother, which was an issue because when she received the payment of her services, her caretaker Shanti took all her money, making Nishi feel disappointed. Nishi felt distraught because her caretaker would take the quarter of her money when she thought she was doing most of the work herself. Nishi used agency to help get what she wanted in her life even though her power was undermined. As well as how the people in her life, for example, her caretaker used her power to take money from her. She still was able to overcome the predicament in her life.

Part 3: Antara’s story

Antara is a woman, a friend of Nishi’s also from Mumbai, India who Deomampo selects to also focus on in her article. Antara was selected because from the many women the author often met with her a lot during the time researching. Apart from Nishi who is a surrogate mother, Antara was both an agent caretaker for surrogate women. Her role in transnational surrogacy is how she advocated for the patients to receive money for their service and how she often went out of her way to always care for them. Antara never took money from her patients and was always a caring caretaker to the surrogate patients. She also faced discrimination with her own husband.

The action she took in order to ensure that she was able to become a participant of surrogacy, is that she called on her elder sister and sister in law, to convince her husband to let her become a surrogate participant. Deomampo states that Antara took on both roles of agent caretaker and surrogate mother which showed that Antara had fought the discrimination against her and had power and enacted agency to get what she wanted in her life. Antara also had a person she could go to, who would educate her and give all the information about being a surrogate mother. Despite the difficulties in her life becoming a participant of transnational surrogacy she overcame the obstacles and suffered much, but she was able take action.

References

1. Deomampo, D. (2013). Transnational Surrogacy in India: Interrogating Power and Womens Agency. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, 34(3), 167–188.

Section 1 Introduction

1.1 Concept

Throughout the years the craving of having a tyke by a fruitless couple has been fulfilled by the way toward embracing a youngster. In the present occasions, fruitless couples or same-sex couples or single people who look for parenthood can settle on different alternatives like Assistive Reproductive Technology (ART), In-vitro Fertilization (IVF) and Intra-Uterine Injections (IUI). Yet, with the surrogacy technique, the couple looks for an opportunity to bring up a youngster that is hereditarily identified with them despite the fact that the kid is being raised by another lady (surrogate mother). The surrogate mother bears the youngster for the individual or people i.e, the dispatching guardians to whom the authority of the tyke is given after the tyke is conceived.

Surrogacy is a sign promising technique for treating the issue of the barrenness of lack of ability to have youngsters. It can tackle numerous painful challenges that the appointing couple and their families face. It is normal that the surrogacy technique faces numerous social, moral and legitimate issues and is a questionable point in our general public.

1.2 Types of surrogacy

The strategy for surrogacy can be characterized based on two components

1.2.1 On the basis of genetic relationship

• TRADITIONAL SURROGACY-The surrogate mother will be the natural mother as the egg giver is simply the surrogate yet the sperm contributor if the expecting father himself
• GESTATIONAL SURROGACY-In this technique, the benefactor remains the aiming guardians as it were. The egg and the sperm is treated and the incipient organism is put in the uterus of the surrogate mother.

1.2.2 On the basis of payment given to the surrogate mother

• COMPENSATED SURROGACY-It is otherwise called business surrogacy. The surrogate mother in such surrogacy is paid over the vital medicinal costs. It might happen when the surrogate mother is anything but a relative or a companion to the authorizing guardians.
• ALTRUISTIC SURROGACY-The surrogate mother gets no extra-budgetary prizes for her pregnancy or for surrendering the kid destined to the meaning couple separated from the essential therapeutic costs. It might occur for the situation where the surrogate mother is a relative or a companion.

1.3 Arguments in favor of surrogacy

• The most imperative reason due to which surrogacy is considered as a gift is that it satisfies the fantasies of numerous individuals who are childless and are unfit to have children normally because of lack of ability or any medicinal complexities.
• There are numerous couples who long for having a youngster however are unfit to in light of the fact that different reasons like therapeutically unfit or lack of ability as if there should be an occurrence of gay couples and when strategies like IVF are additionally of no assistance, surrogacy encourages them in finishing their fantasy of having a tyke.
• Surrogacy permits the charging guardians to have a hereditary and natural association with the kid which can’t be accomplished through the procedure of appropriation. It acts a strategy for those couples who expect to have offspring of their hereditary structure.
• In instances of couples who are gay, lesbians or single parent, surrogacy comes as some assistance for them to have their very own child.
• It helps the charging guardians as well as the surrogate mother. The surrogate mother can take advantage of the monetary prizes she gets for conveying the child.
• The surrogate can utilize the money-related help for supporting her family and can give them better living offices.
• It furnishes with the conceptive freedom to the people and the guardians have an opportunity to manage a kid at the correct time when they think they are equipped for having a kid when they are completely fit. Everybody has an essential right of choosing the number and timing of their youngsters and particularly the methods for dong it.
• There are numerous ladies on the planet who energetically help the meaningful guardians to finish their families with no sort of favors consequently and only for the fulfillment of helping somebody and giving them this bliss. Like if there should arise an occurrence of selfless surrogacy, the surrogate mother isn’t given any money-related reward for bearing the kid separated from the important medicinal costs which are dealt with by the meaning guardians.

1.4 Arguments against surrogacy

Much the same as opposite sides of a coin, the strategy for surrogacy also has a positive too negative side. Alongside being a vehicle of acquiring the delight of being guardians of somebody’s life, surrogacy likewise goes about as a method for misusing ladies.

• The surrogacy practice tends to abuses ladies physically, sincerely and in a financial way. The fundamental motivation behind why a large portion of the ladies consent to be surrogate is a result of their withering need to money-related help for helping to their family needs, for sustaining their kids, instructing them.
• Numerous surrogate moms face numerous enthusiastic difficulties due to the way that they need to surrender the youngster one day to the dispatching guardians. The surrogate likewise gets candidly joined to the infant in the time of nine months and it turns out to be exceptionally troublesome for her to neglect the tyke whom she has supported with so much love and care.
• The surrogate in the torment of losing the youngster additionally begins effectively affecting her wellbeing which might be physical, passionate or mental.
• The surrogate being unconscious of her rights the various occasions may be abused physically. The surrogacy understanding may contain terms and conditions which will influence the soundness of the surrogate like prematurely ending the kid at the desire of the meaningful guardians.
• Since a large portion of the surrogates consents to endure the pregnancy for another couple as a result of their requirement for budgetary help, numerous specialists have made it a business advertisement where they consider surrogacy to be just a medium to acquire cash. They couldn’t care less about the life of the surrogate mother. The main thing which they are keen on is that they are getting their cash.
• In certain cases, if the tyke conceived ends up being anomalous physically or rationally, both the dispatching guardians and the surrogate mother won’t acknowledge the kid then the most unfavorable impact will be on the youngster in view of such conduct of the gatherings.
• Sometimes a lady can likewise be compelled to go into such surrogacy understandings and bring cash and any sort of money-related help into the family where they will undoubtedly acknowledge to such ominous conditions.

1.5 Scope of the study

• With regard to the exploration done on the point ‘Surrogacy Laws in India-an investigative examination, the paper centers around the issues which are identified with surrogacy including the social, moral or legitimate issues.
• The explore additionally discusses the relationship of key rights with surrogacy.
• The paper additionally endeavors to feature the absence of an appropriate lawmaking body for administering surrogacy understandings in India and shielding the interests of the surrogate mother, the youngster or the charging guardians.
• Attempts have been made by the Parliament to make laws in regards to surrogacy in India yet the endeavors stay uncompleted. Bills are passed by the Parliament however the absence of appropriate resolution and acts is one of the serious issue featured in the examination.
• An endeavor has been made to comprehend the privileges of the surrogate mother in the examination paper.
• This look likewise demonstrates that with the assistance of the strategy for surrogacy even gay couples or individuals who need to be a solitary parent can accomplish the fantasy of having an infant.
• This investigation likewise endeavors to address the issues like what occurs if the surrogate won’t give the kid after its introduction to the world to the aiming guardians or what happens when the youngster is brought into the world with a variation from the norm and both the gatherings will not acknowledge the tyke.
• Commercialization of surrogacy and how can it disregards the privileges of surrogate and adventures them is likewise clarified inside this examination.
• An examination has additionally been made with the laws in regards to surrogacy in India with different countries.

1.6 Significance and purpose of the study

With the development in science and innovation, there is a treatment for practically a wide range of restorative lack of ability or any sort of infection. In cases like failure to consider normally or antagonistic vibe of a uterus or powerlessness to convey a youngster in the belly, couples who prior were unfit to have a kid would now be able to any desire for having somebody to raise and support. Surrogacy enables them to have a hereditary or a natural association with the tyke which is beyond the realm of imagination if there should be an occurrence of selection technique.

The principal reason for this investigation is to comprehend the entire plan of surrogacy and the issues which add on with the joy of getting to be guardians. This strategy for leasing a belly has swung to all the more a business, cash-making hotspot for the go-betweens or the specialists or even the surrogates sometimes. There are circumstances where the surrogate mother is constrained by her very own family to go into such surrogacy understandings just for the sake of finding money-related help for supporting and living upto the requirements of her own family.

Because of the absence of arrangements the blamed or the ones found liable for rehearsing business surrogacy or pressuring a lady to be a surrogate or doing any demonstration which will not be right in nature can’t be rebuffed. There isn’t even a solitary resolution for overseeing these surrogacy understandings and for keeping the charging guardians or the surrogate mother from any sort of malevolence. The ladies who concur for being a surrogate are generally in an urgent requirement for monetary help and are normally unconscious of their rights and without understanding the terms and states of the agreement, they concur for conveying the tyke for someone else. In addition, ladies who concur for surrogacy demand being not named in view of the dread of what the general public will consider them.

Mistreatment of Surrogate mothers

Surrogate mothers are like our mothers too, they deserve the same amount of respect and kindness we give to our mothers, however, surrogate mothers around the world today are still being mistreated. On 8th October 2015, a surrogate mother in the US was the first to die from surrogate pregnancy. An Idaho woman named Brooke, served as a surrogate three times when carrying twins, reportedly for a Spanish couple. These women are being paid to give birth to a child and bear this pain of labor. A pain experienced by only a mother who wishes to give birth to a child and not for her own expense.

The surrogates around the world are being treated like baby factories and they cannot have any say or right on the child that she carried. Many say that this practice is converting women into baby factories. This is for the most part true, many surrogate mothers in India joined surrogacy with the intent to sustain their own family, but what happens when this job comes with the risk to lose their lives?

In 2012 during the time when commercial surrogacy was still legal in India, a surrogate mother named Premila Vaghela, a 30-year old surrogate died on 16th May 2012 after delivering a healthy child. She wasn’t in a financially stable condition, with two children and a working husband who is a laborer. She had to go for surrogacy as she had to sustain her own family and children. Surrogacy had only changed this family’s life for the worse.

For surrogacy companies, the first priority always goes to the customer and not the surrogate mothers, this is precisely why countries like Sweden have banned both forms of surrogacy. This practice has broken several laws on human rights and deserves to be criminalized. Many argue that altruistic surrogacy is better and causes no harm, although this is far from the truth. In reality, altruistic surrogacy is the exact same process as commercial surrogacy, except the mother has to give away the child with no cost and payment. The process also carries the same risks and disadvantages.

The most common form of surrogacy is gestational surrogacy where the surrogate mother is under IVF implantation, a process where the egg of the mother or egg donor is implanted into the surrogate mother however, this process has its medical drawbacks and success rate. There are 4 main factors affecting the success rate of IVF implantation, age, previous pregnancy, fertility problems, an egg donor. If a surrogate mother has multiple pregnancies and is of age above 42 the success rate can drop to as low as 4%.

Furthermore, surrogate mothers don’t get respect and are not being treated like they are supposed to be. Alina, a surrogate mother in Kyiv, Ukraine had worked in a surrogacy company that had assumed she would be cared for and treated well. The company did not live up to their claims and instead treated her horribly. Alina quoted “We were treated like cattle and mocked by doctors. We were all very stressed, most of the women came from small villages and are in hopeless situations. We spent the first week just lying around, crying. We couldn’t eat. This is a typical situation for surrogates.”.

I personally believe that surrogate mothers regardless of race, religion and belief are still mothers who are willing to bear the same pain. Surrogate mothers are being treated as if they were nothing less than humans themselves. I find the main issue to be the company itself, they make the rules and regulations followed by medical and financial support. If the company does not take care of its own employees, then surrogacy will never be legal.

Violation of child rights

Children are no doubt, the most important life in the world today, and so we must put our every effort to keep them safe. In the above-mentioned statement about the IVF success rate, the highest potential success rate peaks at 40%, even with the best technology we use today the highest possible success rate is 80% and this process costs a lot of money. Is it ethical to use a technology we haven’t mastered yet? A child’s life is not meant to be meddled with hence, we must make sure we can’t lose any more lives.

It has been an international debate on a child’s nationality and his/her identity if their biological parent is a surrogate. One of the most popular cases of this is the baby Manji case. Baby Manji was born to an Indian surrogate mother in Anand, Gujarat on July 25, 2008. The Father of baby Manji had tried to take Manji back to his home country Japan, but they denied her visa since they did not believe that this was a Japanese child. Eventually, after a long legal battle between the two countries, the baby could reunite with her father.

The Surrogacy market

The surrogacy industry is no question, a very large industry with high demand in today’s world. Surrogate mothers earn an estimated $40 000 to $80 000. Celebrities such as Elton John, Kim Kardashian, and many others have reached out to surrogacy to have their own child. In recent years, many countries have opted to criminalize and ban surrogacy. Many of these countries have banned this practice for legal or ethical reasons.

Many countries say that surrogacy is exploitive, demeaning, and unethical. Surrogate mothers in India earn about Rs 4,000,000 to Rs 1.2 million, most of these women are in poverty and need to take care of their children. This has raised many concerns as this allows many companies to exploit these women in various ways.

The above picture depicts surrogacy as a crime relating to selling drugs.

With an industry worth an estimated $6 billion the surrogacy industry is no doubt in high demand. When the supply of any object is reduced without reducing demand first there is bound to be a formation of a black market.

Reports from the Times (London) report that black market surrogacy is booming in China, the source is from a two-month-long investigation on a state-run news website. The reports say that the agents charge the couples anywhere between US$55,00 and$155,000 for a baby and the gender is guaranteed. This process is no doubt problematic, especially where the baby is disabled or has problems with pregnancy.

In my opinion, I believe that surrogacy is a bane to modern society. I had the exposure to present the idea of surrogacy when I went for HMUN 2017-2018 representing India, my home country. I talked about surrogacy and our perspective on this idea. In my opinion, I think that surrogacy is a great scientific achievement we made, however the ways we use it in the modern-day world are not acceptable. I can compare this to the invention of dynamite by Alfred Nobel, the intended use was for mining, however, it was used as a weapon by others. If we all don’t come up with a justified and legal form of surrogacy, we cannot put an end to these issues

Conclusion

I believe that surrogacy is a scientific breakthrough that, in theory, is a very beneficial business and could help many people around the world. In practice, however, there are many ethical and legal issues that are preventing it from being used to its true potential.

Surrogacy can be replaced with better alternatives. One of the best alternatives is adoption Which is more legal, ethical, humane, and cheaper. There are many other global issues that can be solved by this such as overpopulation and poverty.

Introduction

Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) have revolutionized infertility treatment in the last century. It has given hope to hapless couples, and enabled children to be conceived, who have no genetic relationship to one or both of their parents. ART is also being used by persons without infertility problems to minimize the risk of transmitting certain genetic disorders such as in the case of people who are recessive carriers of abnormalities, such as sickle cell anaemia, thalassemia, and Tay-Sachs disease. Surrogacy comes to the rescue, which is part of ART. The term “surrogate” literally means “substitute.” A surrogate mother is therefore a “substitute mother.”[footnoteRef:1] [1: 1Shah, D; Rasool, S; Nagarajan, N. Assisted reproductive technologies in the global south and north: issues, challenges and the future. In: Rozee, V; Unisa, S, editors. Surrogacy in India: the good, the bad and the ugly. 1st ed. London: Routledge; 2016. P.103-111.]

India has been dubbed the “surrogacy capital of the world” and the law seeks to address concerns that surrogacy in India is an unregulated business. At present, the industry is estimated to be worth more than $1bn a year.[footnoteRef:2] The move to ban commercial surrogacy hasn’t come as a shock in India, as the decision to pass the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 is a culmination of a process that began in 2009, when the Law Commission of India in its 228th report recommended a prohibition on commercial surrogacy, a procedure by which a woman accepts a fee to carry an embryo to term for another couple[footnoteRef:3]. The statement and objects of the law declared that India had become a hub for commercial surrogacy and several incidents of women being exploited had come to light. The law seeks to end such exploitation and regulate non-commercial or “altruistic surrogacy”. [2: Nita Bhalla & Mansi Thapliyal, “India seeks to regulate its booming surrogacy industry”, Medscape, Reuters Health Information, 30 September, 2013, available at https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/811861?nlid=35152_2043&src=wnl_edit_medn_obgy&uac=149266AJ&spon=16 (Last accessed on 1 January 2019)] [3: The Law Commission of India , 228th Report on Need for Legislation to Regulate Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinics As Well As Rights and Obligations of Parties to a Surrogacy, (August, 2009)

(http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/report228.pdf)]

1. Background

Surrogacy refers to the method ‘whereby one woman (the surrogate mother) becomes pregnant with the intention that the child should be handed over to the commissioning couple after birth’[footnoteRef:4]. This option is available to women who, in most cases, are unable to carry a child, or bring a pregnancy to term, or to produce eggs that can be fertilised and gestated by them, and, thus, employ a surrogate to do it for them. It is an agreement between the commissioning parents and the surrogate mother, a practice by which a woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to an infant in order to hand over the same to someone who cannot have biological children. Commissioning parents may seek a surrogacy arrangement when pregnancy is medically impossible, pregnancy risks present an unacceptable danger to the commissioning mother’s health, to avoid manifestation of a genetic abnormality, or can be a same-sex couple’s preferred method of procreation.[footnoteRef:5]Any developments in medicine, social customs, and worldwide have paved the way for modern commercial surrogacy. [4: Jackson, E., ‘Medical Law- Text, cases and materials’, Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, 2010, p.828.] [5: Available from: www.dolphnsix.com/news/India-propose- commercial-surrogacy-ending-lucrative, accessed on 15-09-2018]

Surrogacy: A Global Overview

Many countries including the United Kingdom that have experimented with altruistic surrogacy (explained in ‘Operative Definitions’ below) have realized that banning commercial surrogacy only tends to push the whole transaction underground. A woman who bears a child for another one is performing a service and needs to be compensated for it. If altruistic surrogacy is enforced, the commissioning parents have to find some non-legal means to pay the woman who has spent a year or more of her life trying to ensure the birth of a healthy infant or infants. Here are some highlights of how other countries and regions have treated commercial surrogacy:

North America- An estimated 25,000 surrogate infants were born in the US from 1976 to 2007. A typical payment for a surrogate ranges from between US$ 20,000 and US$25,000. States that allow but regulate surrogacy are: California, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New Hampshire, Texas, Utah and Virginia.[footnoteRef:6] [6: Surrogate Motherhood: Ethical or Commercial: Report by Centre for Social Research. Available from: http://www.wcd.nic.in/sites/default/files/final%20report.pdf Accessed on 21-08-2018]

Western Europe- Although surrogacy is legal in the United Kingdom, no commercial arrangements are allowed and the surrogate mother can only receive expenses – in thousands of pounds through the Surrogacy Arrangement Act – for medical and pregnancy related expenses. Most women become surrogate mothers for altruistic reasons. Only married couples can participate in a surrogacy agreement. Countries in the European Union who have banned all forms of surrogacy include Germany, Sweden, Norway and Italy.[footnoteRef:7] [7: Ibid]

South East Asia- Unclear laws regulating assisted reproductive services make Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines an ideal option for foreigners seeking surrogacy services in this part of the world. However, all forms of surrogacy are banned in Singapore.[footnoteRef:8] [8: Ibid]

East Asia- In Japan, there is no law to regulate surrogate births. Medical councils, including the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology as well as the Science council of Japan have called for surrogacy to be banned. In 2008, it is reported that more than 100 Japanese couples have used surrogates to have children in the United States. Meanwhile, a law to regulate surrogacy is being studied.[footnoteRef:9] [9: Ibid]

1. Historical mapping of the official response to surrogacy in India- the legal and policy responses:

In last few years, surrogacy, which was started as an altruistic gesture for welfare of humankind, has taken the form of commercial surrogacy. Inter-country gestational surrogacy with monetary remuneration is one of the products of medical tourism.[footnoteRef:10]India is considered one of the world leaders in surrogacy, second only to Thailand[footnoteRef:11]. There are several factors working in favour of India, such as cheap costs of medical facilities, travel and lodging, large numbers of well-qualified doctors, and well-equipped private clinics.[footnoteRef:12] Medical travel is in fact a flourishing business. The Indian structure is closest to the liberal market model of surrogacy in California, where surrogacy births are primarily managed by private, commercial agencies that screen, match, and regulate agreements according to their own criteria and without state interference.[footnoteRef:13] [10: Rainskold L, Posner MP. Commercial surrogacy: how provisions of monetary remuneration and powers of international law can prevent exploitation of gestational surrogates. J Med Ethics 2013 Jun; 39(6):397-402] [11: Surrogacy Boom‘, article by Shuriah Niazi, October 14, 2007, by arrangement with WFS, Source: http://www.boloji.com/wfs6/wfs1027.htm] [12: Pande A. Transnational commercial surrogacy in India: gifts for global sisters. Reprod Biomed Online 2011 Nov;23(5): 618-625] [13: Teman, E. The birth of a mother: my theologies of surrogate motherhood in Israel [PhD dissertation]. Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem;2006]

A set of guidelines[footnoteRef:14] was prepared by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) in the year 2005, to protect the right of the surrogate mother, the newborn and the parents which made the practice legal, but did not give it legislative backing. This led to a booming surrogacy industry that had lax laws and no enforcement. Mushrooming of surrogacy clinics in India has created many social, ethical, and legal issues, which can be seen by studying various cases, one very prominent of which is Baby Manji’s case. [14: The ART (Regulation) Rules, 2010, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, UoI. Available from: https://www.icmr.nic.in/sites/default/files/guidelines/ART%20REGULATION%20Draft%20Rules%201.pdf]

Baby Manji Yamada[footnoteRef:15] was a child born to an Indian surrogate mother for a Japanese couple who, before a month of the child’s birth, separated and the future of the child was left in dark. Supreme Court of India had to intervene and the child was allowed to leave the country with her grandmother. [15: Baby Manji Yamada vs. Union of India and Another (2008) 13 SCC 518]

To ensure that there is a law to protect the interest of the surrogate mother and the child who is born through surrogacy, the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill[footnoteRef:16] was drafted in 2008 to look into the rights and duties of the surrogate mothers. But the loopholes which were present in the ART Bill were highlighted in the case of Baby Manji Yamada. [16: Artificial Reproductive Techniques (Regulation) Bill submitted by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, available at http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/vikas_doc/docs/1241500084~~DraftARTBill.pdf]

In August 2009, the Law Commission of India, in its 228th Report[footnoteRef:17] observed as follows: [17: The Law Commission of India , 228th Report on Need for Legislation to Regulate Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinics As Well As Rights and Obligations of Parties to a Surrogacy, ( August, 2009)]

The legal issues related with surrogacy are very complex and need to be addressed by a comprehensive legislation. Surrogacy involves conflict of various interests and has inscrutable impact on the primary unit of society viz. family. Non-intervention of law in this knotty issue will not be proper at a time when law is to act as ardent defender of human liberty and an instrument of distribution of positive entitlements. At the same time, prohibition on vague moral grounds without a proper assessment of social ends and purposes which surrogacy can serve would be irrational. The need of the hour is to adopt a pragmatic approach by legalizing altruistic surrogacy arrangements and prohibit commercial ones.[footnoteRef:18] [18: The Law Commission of India , 228th Report on Need for Legislation to Regulate Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinics As Well As Rights and Obligations of Parties to a Surrogacy, ( August, 2009), Para 4, Pg 6-7]

On the suggestions given by the Law Commission the government made certain amendments to the Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill, 2010, for the first time attempt to plug the loopholes which prevail in the field of surrogacy. Both the couple or individual seeking surrogacy and the surrogate mother shall enter into a surrogacy agreement which shall be legally enforceable. It has been succeeded by the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016[footnoteRef:19], that was tabled in the Parliament in August 2016, and subsequently passed, in December 2018.

According to the Bill, only Indian couples who have been married for at least five years can opt for surrogacy, provided at least one of them has been proven to have fertility-related issues. Also, the new Bill has put a complete ban on commercial surrogacy. Commercial surrogacy, abandoning the surrogate child, exploitation of surrogate mother, and selling/ import of human embryo have all been categorized as relations that are punishable by a jail term of at least 10 years and a fine of up to Rs. 10 lakhs.[footnoteRef:20]The Surrogacy Bill aims to prohibit potential exploitation of surrogate mothers and children born through surrogacy. [19: Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016, submitted by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. Available from: www.PMindia.gov.in ] [20: Ibid]

This has been followed by a report of the 102nd Parliamentary Standing Committee which closely examined the provisions of the 2016 Bill and held public consultations. The report, submitted in September 2017, has made various observations and recommendations,[footnoteRef:21] primarily in favour of commercial surrogacy but with safeguards for the surrogate. This research proposes to make a comparative analysis of the 2016 Bill and the Parliamentary Standing Committee report. [21: Parliament of India, Rajya Sabha, Report No. 102, on The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2016, Presented to the Rajya Sabha on 10th August, 2017 available from http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Surrogacy/SCR-%20Surrogacy%20Bill,%202016.pdf]

2. Literature Review

Commercial surrogacy is and has been most common in the US foremost the state of California, influencing the research on the issue. However in the last years as surrogacy has increased in India, scholars have done research on the subject from several disciplines and angles (Pande 2010, Sandoval 2010, SAMA 2012, and CSR 2010). The phenomenon has been discussed from identity standpoints (Pande 2010) and legal standpoints (McLachlan and Swales 2009) as well as the medical risks for all involved (Nakash and Herdiman 2007).

In commercial surrogacy the labour of carrying a child is moved from the private sphere, the institution of the family, where it is granted legitimacy and recognition, to the sphere of the market. As the norms of childbirth also transgress and apply to commercial surrogacy without change it results in categorizing commercial surrogacy as indecent (SAMA 2012:133). The norms of reproduction make commercial surrogacy illegitimate work that is stigmatized and undignified (ibid.). However the medical practice is motivated by the success rates of the clinics and the demand of the commissioning parents which leads to invasive procedures that affects the surrogates’ body both under and post pregnancy (SAMA 2012:137). The treatment of one party, the infertile couple, is risking the health of another party, the surrogate, and this poses great medical ethical challenge where the treatment of the financially privileged are directly damaging for the health of the unprivileged.

Pande also studies how the popularly used rhetoric of commercial surrogacy in the global North of gift, sisterhood and mission is used in India (Pande 2011:624). She concludes that the narratives of these concepts materialize inequalities between the surrogate mother and the commissioning parents that are based on class, nationality and race instead lessen the monetary character of commercial surrogacy (ibid.). The narratives surrounding commercial surrogacy reinforce the primary identity of the surrogate mothers as dependent mothers and not as independent workers (Pande 2009:141). Surrogates, intended surrogates, medical practitioners, government officials, commissioning parents and representatives of the civil society in India communicate surrogacy within three main definitions, as a medical intervention, with the technique and the infertile parents to be in focus, as a commercial enterprise, with the economic benefits of the parties and society in focus, and as altruistic exchange, where the process is communicated as charitable and as an act of solidarity.

The concept of sexual or gendered division of labour, derives from socialist feminists in the 1970s and 1980s and is used to illustrate how capitalism has taken advantage of inequalities created by patriarchal social relations and created hierarchal working practices (Kuhn, Wolpe and Hartmann in Ferguson 2013:1). At the same time Elson and Pearson analysed the gendered impact of the shift of production from the global North to the global South (Rai 2013:6). They show how export-oriented production built on cheap labour of the global South, foremost female labour, was seen as disciplined and pliable and with that reinforced gender hierarchies (ibid.). They, in line with the gendered international political economy, discussed how women’s skills are seen as natural and valued less than the skills of men that are seen as acquired (Rai 2013:6). Some feminist analysis of economics engaged in showing how the state-regulated and stabilized gendered divisions of labour and how activists challenged exploitation and developed alternative measurements and categorizations of work (Rai 2013:7). To recognize a gendered division of labour does not necessarily mean that women are always in a worse position than men but that labour markets are always gendered (Ferguson 2013:2).

Social reproduction is a central concept for investigating the consequences for women of the public/private divide (Rai 2013:3). Social reproduction can be defined as biological reproduction, unpaid production of services and goods and as reproduction of ideology and culture that stabilizes the dominating social relations (Hoskyns and Rai in Rai 2013:3). Excluding social reproductive work from national calculations of production and exchange leaves most of the reproductive labour outside of what is seen as production (Rai 2013:3). Not recognizing social reproductive labour makes the work hard to value and to compensate for its effects (Rai 2013:4). Most of the social reproduction is done by women and is not acknowledged as work (Rai 2013:3). Different views on how social reproduction should be viewed, as commodity production or if the concept is too complex to view as production at all have been discussed by feminist scholars (ibid.).

3. Statement of problem:

Commercial surrogacy in India is viewed as a problem, and the State plays a paternalistic role, trying to ‘protect’ women from exploitation. This approach, however, results in a violation of women’s right to sexuality, bodily integrity and sexual/reproductive autonomy. The transactional process of surrogacy is often viewed as exploitative, or as bad work. It is not counted as paid. It thus becomes important to view commercial surrogacy and its regulation from a legal, feminist and economic perspective as well to understand why gestational carriers are not seen as ‘workers’ or ‘labour’ and if they are, what is problematic about it. There exists a competing set of rights between surrogate mother and commissioning parents, and how the state has a responsibility to balance the two, even while addressing the economic and social vulnerabilities faced by the surrogate mother. The researcher aims to highlight the morality-driven approach of the Sate in this regard. The researcher will discuss how there is a fear that surrogacy will disrupt the patriarchal notion of family and motherhood that law, and the Indian state carry, and how such a prohibition of commercial surrogacy may potentially drive the practice underground, leading to increased vulnerability of the surrogate mother and further violation of her rights.

4. Aims and objectives

Overall Objective

To study the phenomena of commercial surrogacy in India and analyse the legal, political as well as economic responses to it, through a feminist lens.

Specific Aims

1. To understand the attitudes towards surrogacy and women’s’ reproductive choice as well as responses to commercial surrogacy by the judiciary, executive and legislature through a feminist lens; and
2. To analyse if the prohibition on commercial surrogacy that the 2016 Bill advocates, would be beneficial to promoting the rights of women in India.

5. Research questions

1. What have been the responses of the Indian judiciary, executive and legislature as well as other relevant stakeholders to the phenomenon of commercial surrogacy in India?
2. Are these responses consistent with / likely to lead to the promotion and protection of women’s rights in India?

6. Methodology

This study will adopt the feminist research methodology. As pointed out by Weiner (1994, cited in Burns D., Walker M., 2005), feminist research is critical, political and praxis-oriented. Sandra Harding (1987 cited in Burns D. And Walker M., 2005) has articulated three epistemological positions.

1. Feminist empiricism- The research that excludes women’s voices provides only partial understanding of reality. Inclusion of women’s voices is thus central to feminist methodologies.
2. Feminist standpoint- Harding claimed that, ‘women have a broader perspective on social reality because of their understanding of their own gendered oppression (their standpoint) and that the subjectivity of the researcher is crucial in the research design and must be taken into account in her interpretation.’ (Burns D., Walker M., 2005) Standpoint theory argues that some social situations are scientifically better than others to start off knowledge projects. (Harding, 1993)
3. Feminist postmodernism- this position challenges the understanding of ‘women’ as monolithic category and argues that there are many versions of social reality.

This will be Qualitative Research using the feminist lens, with reliance on secondary sources. Where required, quantitative aspects such as credible data will be incorporated and relied upon. The time constraint does not allow the researcher to engage in primary data collection, and therefore the researcher will be relying on secondary sources, such as books, articles, journals and pre-recorded interviews in order to carry out my research. The researcher will also be relying on feminist theories that highlight the protectionism v/s scientific liberalism and the corrective v/s protectionist approach conflict, and also, bring out clearly the neo-liberal and patriarchal bends of the State in its policies.

7. Operative definitions:

· IVF: IVF is a method of helping a woman to have an infant in which an egg is removed from one of her ovaries, fertilized outside her body, and then replaced in her womb. IVF is an abbreviation for ‘in vitro fertilization[footnoteRef:22]’. [22: Available from the HarperCollins English Dictionary at https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/ivf]

Types of Surrogacy-

A) On the basis of fertilization process:

Genetic surrogacy or partial surrogacy: This is the most common type of surrogacy. In this type, the egg of the surrogate mother is fertilized by the commissioning male’s sperm. In this way, the surrogate mother is the biological mother of the child.

Total surrogacy: The surrogate mother’s egg is fertilized with the sperm of a donor, not with that of the man among the commissioning parents.

Gestational surrogacy or full surrogacy: The commissioning couple’s egg and sperm have gone through in vitro fertilization and the surrogate mother is not linked to the child.[footnoteRef:23] [23: Available from: www.positive-parenting-ally.com/ethics-of- surrogacy.html]

B) On the basis of contractual/ monetary agreement (or the lack thereof):

Altruistic surrogacy: The surrogate mother is not paid for her services. She “offers her womb” as an act of altruism. Most often, there will be a pre-established bond between the surrogate mother and the commissioning parents. Typically, the surrogate mother is a friend or a relative.

Commercial surrogacy: In this type of surrogacy, the surrogate mother receives compensation from the commissioning parents for carrying the child. In most cases, the surrogacy agency deals with all the practical arrangements from finding a suitable surrogate to dealing with all the paperwork.[footnoteRef:24] [24: Available from: http://www.livemint.com/opinion/1e8HICp09ZjEeNPU5U/surrogacy-Bill-Modi-govt-sets-new terms.html]

Surrogates in countries like India form ties with commissioning parents that cross boundaries based on class, caste, religion, and sometimes even race and nation.[footnoteRef:25] [25: Pande A. “It may be her eggs but it’s my blood”: surrogates and everyday formers of kinship in India. Qual Social 2009 Dec;32(4):379-397]

Executive summary

Surrogacy is an increasingly popular arrangement that can be defined as when a woman holds and gives birth to a baby for another individual/ couple . The law surrounding surrogacy in the UK is anachronistic and desperately in need of substantial legislative reform to keep up with contemporary society. Even though the laws have marginally changed to protect the intended parents more than previously and we are seeing a more even shift of the balance of power in favour of the intended parents, whilst the UK appears to be making steps in the right direction, and proposals for reform are developing to protect all of the parties involved, this report reflects on proposals and suggests that amendments and clarity to the law needs to be made and recognised to make it better and work for all of the parties involved in the surrogacy arrangement, and protect the interests of the child involved, the surrogate mother and the intended parents.

The development of the law regarding surrogacy

Societal attitudes to perceptions of parenthood have changed dramatically since the 1980s, in light of modern technology and major advances in medical science such as IVF and various reproductive techniques, despite this surprisingly the law has developed at a seemingly slow pace and fails to reflect the evolving societal attitudes and acceptances of the new family structure regarding surrogacy.

UK surrogacy law first came in 1985 via the Surrogacy Arrangements Act, this was at a time where the UK was unfamiliar with surrogacy arrangements and entered unchartered waters. The law was extremely harsh and reflective of the lack of education in this area therefore the law was of a discouraging tenement.

After the case of Baby cotton, the first baby born as a product of a commercial surrogacy arrangement, this caused huge public outcry, which inspired a strong focus on banning commercial surrogacy arrangements and banning advertising in surrogacy. Section 2 of the surrogacy Arrangements Act makes it illegal for people to participate in surrogacy agreements in regard to a commercial basis. The SAA left a sense of legal vulnerability, discouraging surrogacy arrangements. It was hoped that this intentional framework would lead surrogacy to “wither on the vine”, however the opposite has occurred .

The HFEA 1990 was introduced mainly to protect surrogates’ rights, giving the surrogate mother the power to change her mind anytime freely before the parental order was given. , this led to the introduction of parental orders which move parenthood from the surrogate mother to the intended parents, obtaining the surrogates consent, making it easier than it was previously, and if satisfying certain criteria such as the applicants have to be married, 18+ etc. This recently was updated by the HFEA 2008, which gave more established rights to parents, and “moved with the times” making it more accessible as it allowed couples not in a marriage or a civil partnership to apply for a parental order when they couldn’t do so before, aligned itself with the new laws regarding same sex marriage, enabling same-sex people to apply for such parental orders. It also stated that surrogacy arrangements are unenforceable under the law . In addition, last year there was a recent amendment which now allows that one person to apply for the parental order provided that they are a biological parent of the child

The current law on surrogacy

Surrogacy is legal in the UK and surrogacy arrangements are allowed; however, they remain unenforceable thus they are not legally binding. The law currently states that the gestational mother is the child’s legal mother regardless of the genetic composition of the baby, the legislation clearly emphasises and states that no other women is to be treated as the mother of the child. If the surrogate mother is married or civil partnered, her partner/ spouse automatically becomes the legal parent of the child unless certain provisions do not apply.

The intended parents may apply for a parental order, conditional on meeting the statutory requirements, the parental order essentially makes them the legal parents in the eyes of the law Two applicants can make a parental order within 6 months of the birth of the child The court must be adequately satisfied that no money or benefit (apart from reasonable expenses) should have been incurred. The current UK law bans commercial involvement in surrogacy arrangements, furthermore, advertising surrogacy is also a criminal offence, however, there has never been a prosecution.

Pros and cons of the current system, proposals for reform and further suggestions

One of the positives of the current system is that members of the judiciary and legal professionals are recognising the need for change and reform and the system is of a fluid nature which therefore allows judges to be flexible and use their discretion in overriding the law and interpreting it in such a way that works that is more pro the best interests of the parties, when deciding matters of parenthood an example of this is through judicial case law such as the case of Re X, The judiciary have interpreted s54 rather widely and via statutory interpretation the court will attempt to promote the child’s welfare. Therefore, the judiciary adopt a rather liberal approach towards the legislative requirements and prioritise the welfare of the child. Also, when applying for a parental order the courts adopt the idea that the paramount consideration of the court should be the child’s welfare, also the welfare checklist is applied, which strongly suggests that this process plays a large role in protecting the children’s rights, and the best interests of the child is the primary consideration.

Another benefit of the current system is that acceptance and understanding of surrogacy is developing There are now guidelines that have been published

Also the law bans commercial surrogacy arrangements that use women and make profit out of the surrogacy, and therefore conserves the altruistic and non-profitable nature of surrogacy, this protects the interests of the child, and the surrogate mother, preventing her from exploitation, and is an effective way of regulating surrogacy in the UK .

It is recognised that the system offers little protection to the intended parents involved in a surrogacy arrangement.

Parental order

The current system may be deemed to give an unequal legal power balance in pro of the surrogate parents and neglecting the intended parents’ legal protection, and there is a clear risk that the intended parent wishes to retain legal parenthood.

The intended or biological parents can only apply for a parental order 6 weeks after the child is born, also they must be fully compliant with the legislative provision of s54 HFEA 2008 must have consent of the surrogate, be genetically related and follow relevant procedures. This is a rather time consuming, costly process which can have detrimental effects to all parties involved for example the child may be staying with the commissioning parents, fully integrated in their way of life, however the issue is that the intended parents are not protected and valued in the eyes of the law. If for example, there was an end of live decision to be made, the intended parent is unable to fulfil the consent requirement for medical treatment

Also, due to the time involved in legal proceedings, intended parents may have to wait for more than 6 months to be granted a parental order Furthermore, the parents may not have parental responsibility , which could affects situations for example such as applying for a passport on behalf of the child etc Furthermore, the status of a legal parent affects laws relating to child maintenance, inheritance and making the child a member of that persons family

Therefore, the current system does not protect the interests of the intended parents and is disproportionately pro the surrogates interests over the intended parents interests who can also be biologically related this fails to recognise the genuine practice and intentions of surrogacy arrangement which is altruistic in nature and not intended to become the legal parents. This causes also conflicts with the intended parents article 8 ECHR rights This is important to both the commissioning parents and the child. Previous case law such as Re J enforce the idea that legal parenthood is essential for both the adult and the child.

The law commission consultation proposes that parental orders are given to the intended parents at birth on the condition that they follow a new pathway as opposed to going to the courts after birth which simplifies it. This will also giving surrogates rights to object during a defined period, safeguards allowing the law to fully balance the rights of the surrogate and the intended parents well, adequately protecting them, counselling is also proposed here

This seems to protect the intended parents more as it allows the intended parents to be the legal parents from the time he or she is born, it appears to acknowledge that the law diminishes the autonomy of a surrogate who wishes to give up the child to the intended parents- she doesn’t want to be the legal mother. Therefore, it seems unnecessary that there is a post- birth opportunity to object after 5 weeks, or perhaps this should be reduced a bit more and this does not feel in line with what surrogates intend to happen. The surrogate should have other safeguards in place to protect the exploitation of women, so the intended parents deserve legal certainty If this is not possible, then there should be a reversal of the presumption of motherhood in the context of surrogacy

International arrangements

Whilst there is a lack of official statistics in this area, and we are unaware for certain the reasons for individuals going abroad in doing surrogacy arrangements, international surrogacy arrangements have a strong appeal due to the fact that they will be recognised legally as parents from birth and these countries have a more profuse approach compared to the UK, however the consequences of such can be problematic . This is likely due to uncertainty in the UK, and a lack of surrogates. International surrogacy clearly raises ethical concerns and issues, for example the risk in particular of exploitation of women and not fully getting the surrogates consent, this could also be due to language barriers when transferring the parenthood – lack of clarity surrounding this area of consent could be a risk of exploitation.

It has been suggested as a proposal that it is a good idea to allow strongly regulated commercial surrogacy arrangements, so they don’t risk travelling abroad, an even framework is needed to balance the risk of exploitation of the surrogate and the legal certainty from the parent Perhaps a good proposal would be that people are given good sources of information with healthcare providers nearby before they travel, to ensure they are aware about appropriate options before they travel, this could really protect all parties as they will be aware of the risks of it, also the medical risks to surrogates, in particular multiple embryo transfer, this is also in keeping with protecting the surrogate mother Also, I suggest that a large cross- cultural analysis and study is commissioned in regards to overseas surrogacy arrangements as we are currently unclear about the extent to this Overseas surrogacy is not good, and “jeopardises the welfare of the child in obtaining a parental order becomes more difficult” , children may be “marooned stateless” .

There are immigration issues where you have international surrogacy arrangements, and there is a limiting restrictive procedure for applying in the UK. The law commission has proposed reforms to speed up bringing back the child to the UK, UK nationality laws are extremely complex. Also, surrogacy should be taught in schools and sex and relationship education to further generate awareness Overseas arrangements should be discouraged. Regarding international surrogacy arrangements, and nationality approval is a very long and arduous process. So it is clear that the law does protect individuals parties interests to some extent, but it is inadequate, and needs further improving to best work for everybody.

It has been recognised that there is a need for an international agreement between countries to make the law regarding surrogacy parents more clear, it is unfair that the intended parents can be the legal parents overseas, such as in the USA, but when they get to the UK, their legal rights have been diminished, they have to go through a costly legal process, which is not in the best interest of the child or effective The law commission proposals state that regarding overseas surrogacy arrangements, there will be some that will be automatically recognised so the parents will be acknowledged as legal parents in the UK, However, if the child is born in a country that doesn’t follow the regulation, then there will have to go through the parental order way, but it will be easier for them to do this.

Laws such as ban on advertising of surrogacy, and slow processes make it appealing for people to take part in overseas surrogacy arrangements, as these may be perceived as more accessible Furthermore, there has been a proposal to abolish the restrictions on advertising, therefore lawyers may be able to charge for helping with surrogacy agreements, this seems counter-productive and may lead to a rise of commercial agreements

Regulation

There has been the suggestion of creating a regulated surrogacy organisation the issue of whether such organisations should profit is yet to be discussed. There is also the proposal in the recent Horsey report that we should consider the regulation of approved surrogacy organisations, to give protection and assurance to children, surrogates and intended parents, this may mean that certain checks/activities are mandated through these approved organisations, and also deters individuals from going overseas and entering potentially harmful/ exploitative surrogacy practices. However, cost implications for families should be borne in mind when considering this. At the moment there is no regulation of these organisations such as COTS, (the report surrogacy), the ethos of surrogacy in the uk is all about trust.

It suggested that there would be a code of practice, which condemned multiple surrogacy’s, perhaps there should be more focus on the ethics of surrogacy and the safety of the surrogate mother as there are known risks, for example if there are multiple surrogacies (Brazier review) In the proposals, the law commission state that there will be matching with a women in a regulated licensed clinic, however doesn’t really mention the ethics of the situation.

Lack of consistency

There also appears to be a clash in the law with the idea that when considering parental orders, are supposed to comply with the welfare of the child, and this must be the paramount consideration , this slightly disregards the s54 provisions when these have not been complied with, for example when expenses have gone beyond “reasonable”, and these have been paid to the surrogate, therefore the law is incoherent, and weakens the view of the law The inconsistencies identified are confusing, many parents may be deterred and question whether they meet the criteria for a parental order or not and feel they may be left without secure legal parenthood.

Commercial surrogacy

The commercialisation provisions are very clear, these include preventing agencies from profiting from surrogacy and restricts access to legal advice. A condition prior to allowing a parental order is that no money or other benefit (other than for reasonable expenses) is to be allowed unless allowed by the court. This is rather contradictory, as case law suggests that the courts may actually accept larger payments. The difference between compensation and payment needs to be further clarified The types of payments that the law permits is viewed as a large factor of whether the surrogacy is commercial or not. Although it is clear that agencies such as COTS cannot profit from surrogacy arrangements, the law in relation to payments to surrogates is exceedingly uncertain and vague also there is no definition of what expenses reasonably incurred are law commission Surrogacy arrangements at times may be perceived to have a commercial element. Whether paid surrogacy is baby-selling is unclear The UK has a strong stance against commercial surrogacy

It would make sense to simply have one primary piece of legislation, that encompasses all of these secondary pieces of legislation that are being used to circumvent its way around a poor system- for example the fact that the child’s welfare is the paramount consideration when granting a parental order. The law needs clarifying and examples of good practice is that recent reform document.

Since commercial surrogacy agreements are not enforceable in the UK, and this is a factor why many go to other jurisdictions, as there commercial surrogacy arrangements is guaranteed to make the surrogate the legal parent, there are also ethical considerations about surrogacy acting as a business model, and whether the people acting as surrogates do so of their own free will, or whether the agencies always act in the best interests of the surrogate. There is no consistent international convention to do with surrogacy arrangements without protection

Maybe make surrogacy agreements legally binding agreements can give more certainty of mind for the intended parents.

Conclusion

There are clearly parts of the law that simply do not appear to work, that are overrun in practise, this needs to be resolved, legal responsibility and parental orders are important, reforms need to be made.

The law reform commission consultation report appears to be very encouraging, and a positive step in the right direction, as it is a really good idea that participants have greater informed information, and the intended legal parents can allow them to be the legal parents from the outset. Surrogacy interest has really increased, legislation must be able to be” empirically grounded, facilitative and sensitively encompass the increased use of international arrangements. Law often intertwines with the conversations we have as society, therefore the more we deliberate, discuss and debate surrogacy, the better it will serve to protect the child, intended parents and surrogate mother. There is a lack of consistency with statute and case law.

The debate surrounding the real parent of a “created” child is far from over. With myriad of court cases on the custody of surrogate children, there is seemingly growing worry and uncertainty over parenthood of children obtained from reproductive technology.

As a matter of fact, some states are quite silent in terms of legislations governing gestational surrogacy while others have limited and unclear guidelines on the same. Needless to say, the simmering controversy regarding this form of alternative reproduction and parenthood needs to be resolved by enacting relevant pieces of legislations.

Up to date, it is still not vivid on who among the following is the authenticated parent; the egg and sperm donors, the adoptive parents who have paid for the egg and sperm or the surrogate who has carried and given birth to the child. Nonetheless, this essay argues that the egg and sperm donors ought to be the true parents of the ‘manufactured’ child.

While some of the most recent court cases on parenthood of such children have been determined based on how weighty the arguments are on both sides of the plaintiff and defendants, it is worth noting that genetic make-up of the born child is far much important and supersedes any other local arrangement that may have been made between or among parties (Stephanie 1).

It is profound to note that there are some states which have already laid down basic requirements for gestational surrogacy in the sense that the born child must at least share genetic features with one of the parties under agreement. In other words, the child must have genetic relationship with one of the custodians (Denise 1).

Perhaps, the most important reason why such a legal provision should be enforced is that a sperm or egg donor is highly likely to develop a close and more intimate relationship with the child born out of such an arrangement more than in the case whereby there is total absence of genetic sharing.

At this point, it is prudent to note that intimate parenting is directly proportional to well being of children during the whole cycle of growth. It is also definite that latter may be absent or completely unguaranteed in the event whereby none of the ‘parents’ is a sperm or egg donor (Stephanie 1).

In the case of adoptive parents who went through the process of buying the egg and sperm, catered for legal fees or medical costs for the surrogate, it is imperative to reiterate that such an action may only warrant partial custody of the child but not true parenthood.

In nay case, incurring financial costs on the general upkeep of the surrogate may be undertaken by any other well wisher (Denise 1). For instance, it would be quite misleading to argue that should the state take care of medical and other associated costs of children whose parents are ‘unknown’ then it implies the latter assumes the parent position.

For the surrogate who has carried the child and eventually given birth to him or her, she has only acted as a vessel or channel through the child has been born and lacks the ‘parenting touch’. As already mentioned, a ‘created’ child largely takes after the genetic characteristics of the original genes. While the environment of embryo growth is pertinent in the initial stages of life, it does not rule out the fact that the intrinsic emotional and character relationship has the greatest bearing on a child and depicts who the true parent is.

To recap it all, it is vital to reiterate that both the sperm and egg donors play immense role in determining both the intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics of a child. The available legislations on gestational surrogacy are either silent or unclear on true parenthood of a ‘created’ child. Nonetheless, it is conclusive that genetic make-up of a child should be used as the sole determinant of a parent regardless of who undergoes medical/legal costs or carries the fetus until the time of birth.

Works Cited

Denise, Grady. Parents Torn Over Fate of Frozen Embryos. 2008. Web.

Stephanie, Saul. New Jersey Judge Calls Surrogate Legal Mother of Twins. 2009. Web.

Surrogacy is a multidimensional and controversial issue. In essence, it is another case of modern science, improving the lives of people and helping them to solve problems that seemed to be unmanageable only several decades ago. It is another triumph of the human mind over the cruel circumstances, and, in theory, the idea appears to be rather noble. In practice, however, numerous issues and implications arise, complicating the whole process, and occasionally degrading it. Let us not dwell on the obvious delusions of the less literate people who believe that surrogate pregnancy involves having sex and is connected to prostitution. This problem, even though it does exist, can be easily solved by spreading accurate information. Other issues related to surrogacy can be much more difficult to address.

One of the most complicated controversies connected to the topic is that of parenthood. Who is to be considered the actual mother of the child? The number of people who are involved in the process (the intended parents, the donor, the gestational surrogate mother) makes the definition of parenthood rather difficult. It can be regulated with the help of the laws, but the legislation connected to the issue differs from country to country. For example, while in India, the gestational parent has no right of motherhood, in the UK, only the woman who gives birth can be considered the legal mother (Saxena, Mishra & Malik, 2012).

However, while the legal procedures may help to determine the names in the child’s birth certificate, both intended and surrogate mothers have reported pondering on the issue of parenthood. The former, as had been shown in the story by Kuczynski (2008), find it difficult to convince themselves that they can be called a mother; the latter may find it difficult to part with their children. As a result, for example, in some states of the USA, “a surrogate has a small window of time after birth to stake her claim to parental rights” (Haworth, 2007, para. 23). The law, therefore, makes an attempt at taking into account all the intricacies of the issue and aims at preserving the rights and the human dignity of all the parties concerned, but it is not fit to help them deal with their mental conflicts.

These conflicts are aggravated by the commercialized nature of modern surrogacy. Those who believe that this is disturbing use phrases like “selling babies” and “renting wombs” to describe the situation. While donating blood is regarded as a heroic deed, donating (or rather renting) a womb is not similarly respected by society. Apart from that, the way surrogate mothers are treated has also raised concerns. The commercialization of the process presupposes that surrogate mothers and the women become supply, stocks and are supposedly “treated like robots”(Conan & Frank, 2010, para. 18). Finally, an idea has been expressed that money can become the factor that forces low-income females to use their bodies as incubators without actually being ready for it.

While it is obvious that these problems will not necessarily arise during a surrogate pregnancy, and that a self-respecting agency will do its best to provide parties concerned with the necessary psychological help, the public concern is reflected in legislation all over the world. As such, while any kind of surrogacy is illegal in a number of countries (for example, in Italy), only the commercial type is banned in other states (for example, in the UK). At the same time, there are countries that allow commercial surrogacy; for instance, Ukraine, India, and certain states of the US (Armour, 2012, p. 232-233). As a result, a phenomenon that may be called surrogacy tourism has developed.

Another reason for the development of this phenomenon lies in the fact that surrogacy can be differently arranged in different countries. In the US, for example, surrogacy is a rather expensive procedure, even though the price is justified. After all, bearing in mind all the possible implications, agencies thoroughly examine the physical and psychological state of the potential surrogate mothers and “don’t accept poor women as surrogates for a number of reasons” (Kuczynski, 2008, para. 47). All of this is done to avoid the issues that have been mentioned above, including the money issues. However, in other countries, particularly in India, the situation can be different. The conditions in which Indian surrogate mothers have to live are being assessed differently. For example, according to Ms. Frank, who had researched the issue carefully, the Indian clinics are “in a very good condition, I would say, very Western standards” (Conan & Frank, 2010, para. 15).

At the same time, the conditions described by Haworth (2007) appear to be less acceptable: “a room with three beds, an ancient ceiling fan, and wall paint that has bubbled in the heat like a nasty rash” (para. 35). Given the economic situation in India, Indian surrogate mothers are paid much less than American ones, which attracts customers but also makes one wonder if the Indian agencies are as careful and responsible as those in the US and if the poor Indian women are being exploited.

In this respect, it should be mentioned that surrogacy is not a luxury. It involves legal difficulties, numerous medical procedures, and, as has been mentioned, ethical dilemmas. Surrogacy is a difficult step to make, and people who agree to it are very often in despair.

A couple may not be able to have a baby for numerous reasons. Occasionally infertility can be treated. Kuczynski (2008) writes about the way people tend to grasp at straws while trying to treat infertility:

You just need to relax. Did you try acupuncture? Soy milk makes you infertile. You’re in front of your computer too much. What’s the problem with all your career girls? Did this cycle work? Are you pregnant this time? How many shots? Where? A low whistle: Boy, you must really want a child. You must really want a child. As if that were a bad thing. (para. 11-12)

And those straws maybe not enough. Apart from that, there are untreatable cases or cases with indefinable causes. With the help of surrogacy, modern medical science offers these people a chance, a way out, and they cannot be blamed for trying. The people who want the child are definitely not exploiting anyone; instead, they are the ones at the risk of being exploited along with the surrogate mothers. At the same time, in theory, the process is supposed to be beneficial for all parties: the business receives the profit and the reputation, the intended parents get the baby they want so much, the surrogate mother accepts their eternal gratitude and the paycheck. It should be mentioned that money can become a true salvation for women in India. As one of the surrogate mothers mentioned, bearing a child “is not exploitation. Crushing glass for 15 hours a day is exploitation” (Haworth, 2007, para. 36).

It is obvious that it can be unfair to offer poor women such a controversial way out. At the same time, they are all adults who have the right to decide what to do with their bodies, and they are aware of all the possible implications.

At least, they are supposed to be aware and informed about all the possible implications of surrogacy. Surrogacy agencies are expected to see to it; if they pay enough attention to their duties is another question. For example, according to Saxena et al. (2012), women in India are still often coerced or forced into the business (occasionally not by the agencies, but by their own relatives) and are ill-informed about the process. This may be true, and yet the deficient literacy of these females cannot be regarded as the disadvantage of the idea of surrogacy itself. Instead, it is the flaw of the system, and the way surrogacy is implemented in the area. This problem can and most certainly needs to be fixed since surrogacy is in demand nowadays, with India being one of the most popular surrogacy tourism destinations (Jaiswal, 2012, p. 1).

It cannot be denied that surrogacy is an extremely controversial issue that causes public disapproval and may result in great distress for all the parties involved. It is considered illegal or only partially legal in many countries, while the countries that allow it to become the destination of surrogacy tourism. Surrogacy business has become extremely profitable; however, it is imperative that the businessmen pay attention to the relevant ethical issues. In its essence, the idea of surrogacy is rather noble, and it is its implementation that causes most of the controversies. Therefore, sound legislation and management are what appear to be necessary for addressing these issues.

For the time being, there is no sound alternative that could provide people with the same advantages without causing the above-mentioned problems. Therefore, surrogacy needs to be taken under governmental control; its methods should be improved, and, as a result, the general public may eventually become more accepting of the concept.

References

Armour, K. (2012). An Overview of Surrogacy Around the World. Nursing For Women’s Health, 16(3), 231-236. Web.

Conan, N. (Host), & Frank, Z. B. (Guest). (2010). ‘Google Baby’ Follows Birth Outsourced To India [Radio Program]. In L. Bishop (Executive Producer), Talk of the Nation. Web.

Haworth, A. (2007). Womb for Rent: Surrogate Mothers in India. WebMD Feature from “Marie Claire” Magazine. Web.

Jaiswal, S. (2012). Commercial Surrogacy in India: An Ethical Assessment of Existing Legal Scenario from the Perspective of Women’s Autonomy and Reproductive Rights. Gender, Technology and Development, 16(1), 1-28. Web.

Kuczynski, A. (2008). Her Body, My Baby. The New York Times. Web.

Saxena, P., Mishra, A., & Malik, S. (2012). Surrogacy: Ethical and Legal Issues. Indian Journal of Community Medicine, 37(4), 211-213. Web.

Research Paper

Thousands of women in the United States face difficulties with fertility. They suffer from numerous health problems, because infertility always leads to a huge moral pain. Society often views women, who cannot have children, as men-like and incomplete. Even the most expensive reproductive technologies do not help to solve female infertility problems. In this context, biological surrogacy and egg donation represent the two easy ways to help a woman become a mother.

Every year, the number of children born through surrogacy in the United States grows. However, the legal, ethical, and moral limitations of biological surrogacy should not be ignored. Women who agree to become surrogate mothers must prepare themselves for the moral and physical pains of separation with the child. Women who choose surrogate mothers to carry their babies must be ready to accept the child, regardless of his (her) physical state at birth.

At present, biological surrogacy resembles the act of trade, when the child’s genetic parents manipulate the surrogate mother, using their power and finances. Biological surrogacy can give some hope to the women, who have fertility problems, but only when effective legislation is developed to govern the relationships between biological parents and surrogate mothers.

Biological Surrogacy: The Case of Tiffany Burke and Crystal Kelley

Biological surrogacy has become so common in the United States, that it is no longer shameful for a woman to say that she is carrying someone else’s child. It is a source of childbearing hopes for many infertile women, as well as a good moneymaking opportunity for the women, who can bear and give birth to a child.

Tiffany Burke, 31, is currently pregnant with the twins she is carrying for her brother and sister-in-law (Hudson, 2012). She is monitoring her health and calls herself as “60% organic” (Hudson, 2012). Tiffany says that the babies she is carrying were formed with her brother’s sperm and her sister’s egg (Hudson, 2012).

She already has a child of her own, and she knows what it feels like being pregnant. It is interesting that Tiffany was the initiator of this pregnancy, after her sister’s uterus was removed as a result of uncontrolled bleeding (Hudson, 2012). She eats organic foods and uses vinegar instead of traditional shampoo. What she does not know is whether her pregnancy will go well for her, the babies, and the biological parents. She does not know what she will do, in case anything goes wrong.

This is the question Crystal Kelley might have been asking herself, when a nice couple she met at the playground decided she could be their surrogate (Chapin, 2013). By the time Kelley agreed to become a surrogate, she already had two daughters and a tragic experience of two miscarriages (Chapin, 2013).

She was fascinated with the amount of attention she was getting from the biological parents. However when, at 21 weeks, an ultrasound revealed considerable health abnormalities, the genetic parents offered $10,000 for Kelley to make an abortion (Caplan, 2013). Kelley refused and moved to Michigan, where she was free to control her body. She gave birth to a girl, who was adopted by the family that has enough financial means to raise her and meet her health needs (Caplan, 2013; Chapin, 2013).

Biological Surrogacy: The Why and How of the Problem

Why Women Do It

Biological surrogacy raises numerous ethical and legal issues, one of them being the right to autonomy, privacy, and self-control. Still, the number of families which apply to biological surrogacy continues to increase each year. The basic question is why, despite so many ethical challenges, families choose biological surrogacy.

The answer is simple: everyone wants to have a child of their own. The fact is that egg donation and biological surrogacy greatly increase women’s chances to become mothers. According to Steinbock (2004), a woman who is infertile and uses her own eggs for in vitro fertilization has a 15 percent chance to become pregnant, compared to a 40 percent chance for a woman, who uses donated eggs.

The situation with biological surrogacy is quite similar: for many women who cannot get pregnant naturally, surrogacy provides the only real opportunity to have a child (Steinbock, 2004). Tiffany Burke, who is carrying the twins for her brother- and sister-in-law, understands how difficult it is not to have a child, and this is probably why she decided to sacrifice her body for the sake of pregnancy. However, Burke’s case is a rare example of nobility, unlike other cases, when surrogacy is just a matter of money and control.

Biological Surrogacy as a Commodity

With the absence of effective regulations, biological surrogacy resembles the act of trade, where the child is exchanged for a considerable sum of money, and the surrogate mother is just a physical means for having a baby. Commodification is one of the biggest ethical problems in the context of egg donation and surrogacy.

Women who donate their eggs are paid between $2,500 and $5,000 (Steinbock, 2004). Chrystal Kelley was paid $22,000 for her pregnancy and could receive another $10,000, if she agreed to make an abortion (Caplan, 2013). Thus, “surrogacy for money is about money – not love, or help, or altruism or doing good. Money is most attractive to those who need it most” (Caplan, 2013). Biological surrogacy is very much like renting the surrogate mother’s womb for a good sum of money.

Certainly, it is possible to say that everything in this world is bought and sold. Scientists sell their minds; lawyers sell their knowledge of the legal procedures; and athletes sell their physical abilities and bodies to cope with their daily needs (Steinbock, 2004).

At times, individuals agree to sell their body parts and organs, when they have no other way to earn for living. However, they do not sell their souls or votes, because it is morally unacceptable. No one wants to be treated as property. Nevertheless, in most cases, this is what happens to the women, who have agreed to become surrogate mothers.

No one says that biological surrogacy is absolutely wrong and should not be allowed. Rather, surrogacy cannot be permitted in its present-day form. It should be thoroughly regulated by the state, and it is state that should (or should not) compensate surrogate mothers for their noble decisions. Only then, biological surrogacy will become moral and acceptable, when no financial interests are involved.

Biological Surrogacy and Body Control

Another problem is that of biological surrogacy and body control. Women who agree to rent their wombs for money often have no voice in the medical and financial decisions regarding their body. Many of them understand that surrogacy is a huge responsibility (Hudson, 2012).

For many others, the lack of control over their bodies becomes an unpleasant surprise during pregnancy. Crystal Kelley, who was asked to abort her child because of the health problems revealed during an ultrasound, received a letter from an attorney who was telling her that, under the surrogacy contract, she had no legal right to keep the child (Caplan, 2013). Under the surrogacy contract, she was required to make an abortion in case any health problems were identified (Caplan, 2013).

However, no one can make a woman get rid of the unborn baby. Under no circumstances can this decision be regarded as legal (Caplan, 2013). Even if the surrogate mother signs a contract, its provisions have no legal power. The attorney who was pressuring Crystal Kelley to seek an abortion can lose his license, because his letter was a serious violation of law (Caplan, 2013). Still, biological surrogacy increases the risks of exploitation.

Even providing large monetary rewards for surrogacy can become a form of coercion. Many women cannot resist the temptation to earn some money for being pregnant. As a result, they turn themselves into a commodity. The money they receive for carrying and giving birth to a child may not be worth the risks of exploitation, which these women are facing.

Kelley was threatened that, in case she refused an abortion, she would have to pay back the money she had received from the genetic parents (Caplan, 2013). She was manipulated to become a murderer of the child, which is equal to a serious crime. However, she was strong enough to withstand the pressure and give birth to a child.

She had even more power and strength to find a family that would care for the sick girl. Looking back at Kelley’s case, it is possible to say that “any surrogate agency which conveyed an offer of money to encourage an abortion is guilty of at best bribery and an attempt to crassly manipulate a vulnerable woman” (Caplan, 2013).

Now, What Happens Next?

Now that the surrogate child is born, what happens to him (her) and how are his (her) relations with the genetic parents develop? This is the question, which matters a lot but does not receive enough professional attention. Biological surrogacy is often described as a process that starts with egg and sperm donation and ends, when the baby is born.

Yet, it is clear that children who are born through surrogacy lack a physical and psychological link with their genetic parents (Golombok, Readings, Blake, Caset, Marks & Jadva, 2011). Unfortunately, Tiffany Burke does not think of how the babies she is carrying will build their relations with the genetic parents.

Crystal Kelley sounds quite confident that the foster parents she has found for her newborn girl will be able to meet her most serious health needs. Today, the children born through surrogacy do not differ much from their peers, who were born through natural conception (Golombok et al., 2011). Families that used surrogacy do not seem to be different from the families, which never experienced any fertility problems.

Getting back to the ethics of biological surrogacy, what will the children born from surrogate mothers say to their biological parents, when they learn about their origins? How will they react to the fact that they were carried and born by a different woman? Will they experience confusion in terms of their mother-and-child roles? Will they treat the surrogate mother as a womb rented to give them life? These questions do not have any answers, as well as the questions related to the morality of biological surrogacy in the modern world.

Many societies and communities feel that surrogacy is just another step towards a cyborg society, where robots and humans live side by side. Many others treat surrogacy as a huge hope for those women, who cannot have children. Many issues related to surrogacy remain unresolved. Meanwhile, many women do not even know what it takes to be a surrogate mother.

Much of the current confusion regarding biological surrogacy is because of the lack of knowledge, information, and openness in relations between genetic parents and surrogate mothers. Those, who agree to become a surrogate, do not even imagine the difficulties associated with this role (Steinbock, 2004).

With so many women having fertility problems, surrogacy should remain an accessible and affordable way to have a baby, but only when new regulations are developed to help surrogate mothers avoid exploitation, commodification, coercion, and harm. This is the only way biological surrogacy can save the society from the risks of a demographic crisis and help infertile women become mothers.

Conclusion

When it comes to biological surrogacy, one of the central questions is whether it is justified. The results of this analysis show that surrogate mothers can provide thousands of women with a chance to become mothers.

Surrogacy is a good alternative to more traditional adoption, since the child born through surrogacy carries the essential genetic features of his (her) parents. However, as the number of surrogate mothers continues to grow, the United States needs better regulations to control and manage this sphere. The cases analyzed in this paper suggest that women, who agree to be surrogate mothers, face numerous risks.

First, they can be easily manipulated into becoming surrogates, because they are offered huge monetary rewards for being pregnant. Second, these women often do not know what it takes to be a surrogate and how it impacts their fundamental rights. Third, women who agree to be surrogates are subject to exploitation and coercion risks. For example, genetic parents can push them towards an abortion, if they learn that the baby has severe physical abnormalities.

This is why the United States needs a new set of laws and regulations to help surrogate mothers defend their rights to autonomy and decision making. The problem is not about biological surrogacy. Being pregnant with someone else’s child is neither immoral nor illegal, but when pregnancy does not turn into an object of trade.

In the absence of a solid legal environment, surrogacy turns unborn babies into a commodity that can be bought and sold. New legislation will help protect the right of the unborn babies, while also making surrogate mothers less vulnerable to the risks of exploitation and abuse.

References

Caplan, A. (2013). $10,000 to abort? Surrogacy case reveals moral holes, bioethicist says. NBC News. Web.

Chapin, J. (2013). Surrogate gives birth against biological parents’ wishes. NBC News. Web.

Golombok, S., Readings, J., Blake, L., Casey, P., Marks, A. & Javda, V. (2011). Families created through surrogacy: Mother-child relationships and children’s psychological adjustment at age 7. Developmental Psychology, 47(6), 1579- 1588. Web.

Hudson, W. (2012). Surrogate mom strives for organic living. CNN. Web.

Steinbock, B. (2004). Payment for egg donation and surrogacy. The Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine, 71(4), 255-265. Web.

The recent news from China has revealed a major scandal is revolving around the topic of surrogacy. In January 2021, Nectar Gan wrote in her article for CCN that a popular Chinese actress Zheng Shuang was accused of abandoning two surrogate babies in the United States after breaking up with her boyfriend (Gan, 2021). While this incident occurred outside of China, it forced the country to confront the issue and evaluate all aspects of surrogacy.

It might seem like a distant issue that does not affect you, yet, as long as surrogacy remains allowed by law, women’s rights remain threatened. I would like to inform you about the ethical and physiological dangers of surrogacy that stand behind the reason for a strict ban on this practice imposed by the Chinese government. To prove my point, I will provide three primary reasons why Chinese people strongly oppose this practice.

Medical considerations are providing a substantial argument against surrogacy. In the 2018 review article in BioMed, Simopoulou et al. reveal that all types of traditional surrogacy can lead to severe health damage, ranging from spontaneous abortion and increased chromosomal abnormalities to induced infertility of a surrogate mother (Simopoulou et al., 2018). Patel et al. (2018) further describe the adverse aspects of surrogacy, showing that “many surrogate mothers face emotional problems after having to relinquish the child” (p. 214). Issues do not stop there, as pregnancy in itself is a complicated process that endangers a mother’s life.

Surrogacy poses a threat to women’s rights due to severe ethical issues. In her book, Sophie Lewis (2017) states that “baby commodities are a definite part of what gestational labor produces today” (p. 20). Jin-guo and Na Wang (2017) argue that surrogacy allows a woman to turn “the womb into a money-making machine” (p. 380). Płotka et al. (2018) highlight that this phenomenon “causes a devaluation of human life and parenthood,” as it corrupts the notion of blood bond (p. 712). Kristin Lozanski and Irene Shankar discuss how surrogacy can even lead to the return of women to a status of “an object” that can be “rented by prospective parents” (p. 44). Simply put, women will be encouraged to earn a living by sacrificing their health if surrogacy remains unopposed in our society.

Moreover, parents who are using surrogate mothers might lack the necessary attitude towards their children and behave irresponsibly. Katharina Beier (2018) discusses how children who are born to surrogate mothers can be a subject to “objectification and instrumentalization” from inadequate parents (p. 258). Moreover, surrogacy creates dangers to the well-being of a child since it prevents its parents from establishing an emotional connection with their kid prior to birth. Yiying Qiu (2021) argues that surrogacy is especially dangerous in China since it allows people to refuse to accept a girl since it might be considered “shameful” (p. 13). This practice is harmful to a society that relies heavily on family bonds.

In conclusion, surrogacy was banned in China because surrogacy exploits the health of surrogate mothers and harms their children, it turns human life into a product, damages women’s rights, and can be used by irresponsible people who are not ready to become parents. Surrogacy is already illegal in many countries, yet it is a highly profitable type of service in countries where it remains accessible. You might believe that this issue does not affect you. In his post on February 2021 in CGTN, Yang Jinghao points out that if this practice remains legal and highly profitable, then your friends or relatives, even your children, may one day resort to selling their health (Jinghao, 2021). Surrogacy has a lasting adverse impact on the life of a surrogate mother. Please, understand the disadvantages of surrogacy and oppose its usage from now on.

References

Beier, K. (2018). Ethical objections about surrogacy in German debates: A critical analysis. Cross-Cultural Comparisons on Surrogacy and Egg Donation, 255-276. Web.

Gan, N. (2021). Accused of abandoning two babies in the US, a Chinese celebrity sparks a national debate about surrogacy. CNN. Web.

Jinghao, Y. (2021). Surrogacy stirs up a heated debate in China. CGTN. Web.

Lewis, S. A. (2019). Full surrogacy now: Feminism against the family. Verso Books.

Lozanski, K., & Shankar, I. (2018). Surrogates as risk or surrogates at risk? The contradictory Constitution of surrogates’ bodies in transnational surrogacy. Social Theory & Health, 17(1), 40-56. Web.

Patel, N., Jadeja, Y., Bhadarka, H., Patel, M., Patel, N., & Sodagar, N. (2018). Insight into different aspects of surrogacy practices. Journal of Human Reproductive Sciences, 11(3), 212-218. Web.

Płotka, B., Ghenu, C. I., & Rezmer, K. (2018). Between market and morality: The case of surrogacy. CBU International Conference Proceedings, 6, 709-715. Web.

Qiu, Y. (2021). What are the current practices of surrogacy in China? 3rd International Conference on Future of Social Sciences.

Simopoulou, M., Sfakianoudis, K., Tsioulou, P., Rapani, A., Anifandis, G., Pantou, A., Bolaris, S., Bakas, P., Deligeoroglou, E., Pantos, K., & Koutsilieris, M. (2018). Risks in surrogacy considering the embryo: From the Preimplantation to the gestational and neonatal period. BioMed Research International, 2018, 1-9. Web.

Wang, J., & Wang, N. (2017). The problems and plight of surrogacy in our country. DEStech Transactions on Economics, Business and Management. Web.