Category: Articles

‘Shared Motherhood’ Couple Can Both be Named on Irish Birth Certificate

Michaela Chen | BioNews | October 25, 2021

Irish couple Ranae von Meding and her wife, Audrey Rooney, won the right to be legally recognized as a two-mother family. The couple’s two daughters were conceived in Spain through reciprocal IVF, in which Rooney’s egg was fertilized in vitro and implanted into von Meding’s uterus. Only von Meding was recognized as the legal parent, though the two were married when Rooney gave birth to both daughters. Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 only recognizes same-sex couples who conceive and birth in Ireland, but von Meding and Rooney conceived in Spain because no Irish clinics offered reciprocal IVF at the time. Irish legislation is still lacking legal parenthood provisions on surrogacy, home insemination, and births abroad.

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Dramatic Change in Quebec Surrogacy Law Proposed Under Bill 2

Chelsey St. Pierre and Beryl Wajsman | The Suburban | October 22, 2021

Quebec’s family law is finally being updated after three decades with Bill 2, which will aim to legalize contracts signed between a surrogate and intended parents. The bill requires that the surrogate is at least 21 years old and be compensated only for loss of work income and other pregnancy expenses. To protect the surrogate, the intended parents cannot withdraw from the contract once she is pregnant and cannot sue if she decides to abort or keep the child.

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Gay Couple Hail ‘Big Win’ in Battle Over Children’s Namibian Citizenship

Nyasha Francis Nyaungwa | Reuters | October 13, 2021

A Namibian court ruled that the son of a gay couple, born via surrogacy in South Africa, is a Namibian citizen by descent. After a two year battle, High Court Judge Masuku ruled that a paternity test is not necessary to prove that Yona Luhl-Delgado is the son of Namibian Philip Luhl and his Mexican husband, Guillermo Delgado. Namibia’s legal system does not recognize same-sex marriages and criminalizes sexual conduct between men, but the law is seldom enforced, and this ruling comes as a “big win” for same-sex couples.

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WNBA Players to Get Free Fertility Testing, Reproductive Support

Kim Bhasin | Bloomberg | October 7, 2021

Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) players can now receive free access to fertility support and testing services from San Francisco-based company Modern Fertility. This plan comes as an addition to the 2020 agreement drawn between the WNBA and its players that increased compensation and benefits such as paid maternity leave, child-care stipend, adoption, and surrogacy. The health of female athletes has been a hot topic recently, especially with high-profile figures such as tennis player Naomi Osaka and gymnastics athlete Simone Biles vocal on the topic.

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Welcoming Surrogacy Opportunities in England and Wales

Kirsty Hosey, Kamal Ahuja, and Nick Macklon | BioNews | September 27, 2021

Parental orders, used to transfer legal parenthood from a surrogate to the intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement, have increased fourfold over the last decade. Clinical experience from over 150 surrogacy cases at the London Women’s Clinic shows an increase in the number of treatments per year, especially by same-sex couples. This evidence suggests that surrogacy has become more socially acceptable and popular in the UK, likely due to increased support and awareness from non-profit organizations and digital platforms. Further reform on surrogacy regulations must be made to better safeguard surrogacy-born children as well as non-traditional families. 

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‘Surrogacy is Absolutely What I Want to Do’

Jo Deahl | BBC News | September 22, 2021

Current law in the United Kingdom states that the surrogate is the legal mother when the child is born, and that legal parentage must be transferred through a parental order. Because the law also outlaws surrogacy advertisements, intended parents have turned to social media to find surrogacy matches, especially since non-profit organizations have long waiting lists. Both government officials and those who have started families through surrogacy agree that UK surrogacy law needs to be updated.

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After Israel’s Landmark Surrogacy Ruling, Protecting Surrogate Mothers is Paramount

Or Kashti | Haaretz | July 12, 2021

Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled that a ban on surrogacy for same sex couples and single men is discriminatory and must be lifted. The author of this opinion piece notes that surrogacy can be harmful and exploitative and urges attention toward safeguarding the rights and health of surrogates in Israel and other countries.  Isha L’Isha Haifa Feminist Center highlights the lack of data on the effects of surrogacy and a lawsuit threat they received after publishing testimonies from surrogates in India.

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‘Not Possible’: Legal Expert Explains Rules Around ‘Multiple’ Surrogates in South Africa

Athenkosi Mndende | News24 | September 20, 2021

A Russian couple had 20 infants through multiple surrogate mothers, even though neither the mother nor father had records of infertility, because they wanted to and could afford to. In this article, Adele Van der Walt, a legal expert, discusses reasons why such a case would not be possible in South Africa. South African legislation requires that there must be a permanent and irreversible medical reason why the intended mother cannot carry the birth, and that the surrogacy is altruistic. Additionally, an application to the High Court to proceed with the surrogacy arrangement  could not, in this case, show that the arrangements were in the children’s best interest.

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Gay Marriage, Adoption, Surrogacy: Revolutionary Bill Raises Hope Among LGBTQ+ Cubans

Nora Gámez Torres | Miami Herald | September 17, 2021

The Cuban government recently drafted a family code that would allow same-sex marriage, adoption by same-sex couples, and uncompensated surrogacy arrangements. Before the code passes, however, the legal framework must be approved in a national referendum, which will likely  be difficult, given opposition from religious groups. Still, LGBTQ+ allies in Cuba says the proposal already “shatters paradigms” and is “much more than what we expected,” given the repressive and homophobic history of the Cuban revolution.

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Gabrielle Union Opens Up About Her Surrogacy Journey: ‘I Always Wonder If Kaav Would Love Me More If I Had Carried Her’

Kaitlin Vogel | Parade | September 17, 2021

In her new memoir, You Got Anything Stronger?, actress Gabrielle Union discusses her surrogacy journey. After many miscarriages, a diagnosis of adenomyosis, and a number of rounds of IVF, Union and her husband decided to pursue surrogacy.  They were matched with a surrogate who delivered  their daughter, Kaavia James. Union continues to wonder how her bond with Kaavia would be different had she been the one to carry and birth her.

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