Category: Articles

Japan Should Update Laws on Assisted Reproduction: Yomiuri Shimbun

The Straits Times | December 7, 2020

This Editorial in the Straits Times asserts that legislation in Japan must keep up with advances in assisted reproductive technology, including regulation to safeguard babies born and to address egg and sperm donation and surrogacy. The Editorial raises issues of ethics, commercialization and eugenics and calls on the application of a supplementary provision of a new special law that would study a range of issues and enact legal measures related to assisted reproduction.

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Blue and White Propose Gay Surrogacy Bill, Opposed by Netanyahu Faction

Gil Hoffman | The Jerusalem Post | December 1, 2020

Israel’s Blue and White party has submitted three new bills, including one that would allow gay men to hire surrogates within the country, expand the pool of local surrogates, and regulate international arrangements.

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Danish High Court Rules Against Adopting Mother in Surrogate Case

Helen Jones | CPH Post | November 17, 2020

In Denmark, high court judges decided that a Danish woman does not have the right to adopt twins born to a Ukrainian surrogate in 2013. The judge deemed that her husband is, however, fully recognized as a parent under the eyes of the law because he is genetically related to the children. The mother’s application to be legally recognized as the twins’ adoptive mother was rejected because of the financial transaction with the surrogate; according to the court, “it is absolutely prohibited to grant an adoption permit if anyone involved in the adoption has provided or received payment.”

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Bill Submitted in Japan to Recognize Donated Egg, Sperm Users as Parents

Kyodo News | November 16, 2020

In Japan, ruling and opposition parties have submitted a bill that legally recognizes the parentage of those having children using donated eggs or sperm. Current Japanese law has no provisions for in vitro fertilization involving donors. There has been some pushback against the bill, as it does not grant those born under these circumstances access to the identities of the donors. Additionally, this bill postpones decisions on legalizing surrogacy and payment for eggs and sperm.

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Kenya: Why Surrogacy in Kenya Is Shrouded in Secrecy

Simon Mburu | AllAfrica | October 31, 2020

This article begins with the personal story of Emily and Hillary Kiptui, a Kenyan couple who experienced nine miscarriages before having a child through surrogacy. The article notes that agencies in Kenya primarily target foreign couples and charge intended parents exorbitant fees. Kenya currently has no regulation of the surrogacy industry; however, a reproductive healthcare bill filled with surrogacy measures is currently in the Kenyan Senate. 

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Russian Investigators Target Gay Fathers

Elena Barysheva | DW.com | October 17, 2020

This article features Vladimir, a father in Russia, who fears arrest after authorities recently threatened to arrest single men who had children through IVF and surrogacy. Critics state that investigators are using a separate human trafficking case involving surrogacy for foreign heterosexual couples as a pretext to discriminate against and criminalize gay men.

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I’ve Studied How People Build Their Families for Decades

Susan Golombok | Time | October 14, 2020

The director of the UK Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge shares key findings from 40 years of research on families with gay fathers, lesbian mothers, single mothers by choice, transgender parents, adoptive parents, and those who have children through egg or sperm donation or surrogacy. She found that the most important factor is not the structure of the family but the quality of relationships, community support, and societal attitudes.

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Court Rules That Son of Gay Binational Couple Born Abroad by Surrogacy Is U.S. Citizen

Muri Assunção | Daily News | October 9, 2020

Following years of legal battle, a child born through surrogacy in Canada to a binational gay couple was ruled a US citizen by an appellate court. The US State Department had repeatedly rejected the child’s citizenship status but not that of his twin’s. The Executive Director of LGBTQ advocacy group Immigration Equality remarked that this decision “demonstrates yet again that it is far past time for the State Department to change its discriminatory policy.”

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Stranded Babies, Sobbing Parents: Pandemic Splits Surrogates From Families

The Japan Times | September 22, 2020

This article expands on the stories of children born through surrogacy who are stranded in Eastern European countries and discusses the revival of the Chinese black market in the face of COVID travel restrictions. Additionally, police in Russia and Ukraine are raiding “baby dens” amidst fears of human trafficking. The article also highlights the stark contrast in the cost of surrogacy: Ukraine and Georgia 35-50K; Russia 73K, and California 200K.

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‘I Have Been a Surrogate 3 Times, This Is What It’s Like’

Eloise Drane | Newsweek | September 23, 2020

An experienced surrogate shares her story of pregnancies for three couples. Prior to becoming a surrogate, she donated a kidney and then her eggs, describing her experience as a Black woman and the misinformation she encountered about people of color and infertility. She continues to see surrogacy as “a selfless, amazing, beautiful gift that you can give to somebody else,” despite serious health complications during two of her three surrogate pregnancies.

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