Category: Articles

Paid to carry a stranger’s baby – then forced to raise it

By Elaine Chong and Tim Whewell | BBC News | Feb. 2019

Thirty-three women were arrested in Cambodia as part of a crackdown on the illegal surrogacy industry there. Agency employees were charged with trafficking, and the surrogates, most of whom did not know the practice was illegal, were charged and detained, then required to raise the children themselves without receiving the surrogacy compensation or any other financial assistance. This article features the stories of four Cambodian women caught up in the crackdown.

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One Baby, Two Fathers: The Rise of Gay Men Turning to Surrogacy

By Lin Qiqing | Sixth Tone: Fresh voices from today’s China | Jan. 13, 2019

This article features three stories, two gay couples and a single gay man in China, who all had children through international surrogacy. It follows their paths as they navigate family and cultural expectations around parenthood and highlights the increasing popularity of international surrogacy among gay men in China. This article has a map showing the steps one couple went through across three countries.

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Surrogacy and IVF in Canada: What you need to know

By Dilshad Burman | 680 News | Jan. 9, 2019

The story of Canadian citizen Joseph Tito whose twin daughters were not allowed to return with him to Canada brings attention to the complexity of engaging in international surrogacy. This article reviews the rules and costs of in vitro fertilization and surrogacy in different provinces in Canada. It includes several links to official agencies for more detailed information.

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Canadian man who had twins via surrogacy in Kenya allowed to bring them home

By Dilshad Burman and Faiza Amin | City News | Jan. 7, 2019

Canadian citizen Joseph Tito’s twin daughters, born to a surrogate mother in Kenya, were not allowed to return to Canada due to citizenship laws. Tito had to undergo extensive paperwork in Kenya to bring his daughters home with him. His lawyer explains the need for intended parents to learn about applicable laws in the country where the surrogate lives, before starting the process.

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Surrogacy Should Be Regulated, But the New Bill Falls Short

By Deepa V., Sarojini Nadimpally | The Wire | Jan. 2, 2019

This opinion piece by advocates at Sama Resource Group for Women and Health asserts that India’s Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2016 is discriminatory and regressive because it allows only heterosexual, married couples to engage in commercial surrogacy–and only married women with consent of their husbands. They advocate for regulation that upholds the rights of women acting as surrogates and allows single, queer and live-in partners to engage in surrogacy; and for broader regulation of the entire assisted reproductive technology industry.

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Article: Do IVF and Other Infertility Tech Lead to Health Risks for the Baby? Maybe.

Do IVF and Other Infertility Tech Lead to Health Risks for the Baby? Maybe.
By Mara Gordon | National Public Radio | Sept. 19, 2018

This article explores new research, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, on children conceived through certain infertility treatments and their risk for cardiovascular disease. While the study’s authors indicate that the findings are preliminary, they encourage families using infertility treatments to be vigilant about screening their children and mitigating other risk factors, such as smoking, obesity, and a sedentary lifestyle.

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In 2012, the same team of scientists published a paper showing that 65 healthy children  born with the help of ART were more likely than their peers to have early signs of problematic blood vessels.

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How Canada Became an International Surrogacy Destination

Alison Motluk | HeyReprotech | September 18, 2018

An increasing number of intended parents are traveling to Canada from other countries to pursue surrogacy arrangements, especially since other locations such as India, Nepal, Thailand, and Mexico restricted their industry to domestic arrangements. Canada also grants legal parentage to intended parents in a few days, and issues a birth certificate within weeks, so the new family can return to their home country. Canadians may be reluctant to pursue surrogacy arrangements because paid  surrogacy is criminalized for citizens only. Because of this loophole and because Canada does not allow discrimination based on marital status and sexual orientation, the country attracts foreign intended parents. 

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Article: 44 Siblings and Counting

44 Siblings and Counting
By Ariana Eunjung Cha | The Washington Post | Sept. 12, 2018

The midsummer reunion in a suburb west of the city looks like any other, but these family ties can’t be described with standard labels. Instead, Arroyo, a 21-year-old waitress from Orlando, is here to meet “DNA-in-laws,” various “sister-moms” and especially people like Sophia, a cherished “donor-sibling.”

This article follows Kianni Arroyo, one of many children created using sperm from “donor #2757,” in her quest to find her donor-siblings. It tracks country-specific caps on donor births, as well as efforts of organizations like Donor Sibling Registry that urge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to limit the number of births per donor, mandate reporting of donor-conceived births, and require donors to provide post-conception medical updates.

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Article: Spanish Couples Undergoing Surrogacy Processes Left in Legal Limbo in Ukraine

Spanish Couples Undergoing Surrogacy Processes Left in Legal Limbo in Ukraine
By Silvia Blanco | El País | Aug. 31, 2018

As Ukraine transforms into a desirable hub for international commercial surrogacy, concerns are emerging. This article – like others found here – touches on irregularities and poor quality of care at fertility clinics, and focuses on the 30 Spanish intended parents unable to obtain passports from the Spanish Consulate in Kiev for their children amidst fears of the trafficking of minors.

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How a surrogate twin pregnancy turned into a custody battle over unrelated babies

By Alison Motluk and Liz Hoath | CBC Radio | Aug. 23, 2018

When Jessica Allen, a California mother of two, decided to become a gestational surrogate, she was surprised to find herself pregnant with twins. Later, a DNA test revealed she is the biological mother of one of the two babies. This article tells the story of the Allen family’s long and costly legal battle to recover their biological son.

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