Natalie Morris | Metro.co.uk | May 13, 2022
Waiting times for nationally-provided fertility treatment in the UK grew from 6 to 15 months after the pandemic. Consequently, the demand for private alternatives grew, which created a competitive marketplace with some clinics turning to deceptive marketing techniques.
Rochelle Alleyne | ABC Action News | April 6, 2022
Following the disruptive travel bans, the COVID-19 pandemic is posing another challenge for the fertility industry. Many surrogates don’t want to get a vaccine, causing some intended parents to pay more and wait longer to find a vaccinated surrogate.
Danielle Braff | The New York Times | April 2, 2022
The pandemic introduced new disconnects between surrogate and biological parents, including vaccine mandates, unemployment, and travel bans. As a result, there has been a 60% decrease in potential surrogates, doubled wait times, and significantly increased fees.
Lahac Harkov | The Jerusalem Post | January 17, 2022
Israel’s Foreign Ministry workers stopped registering babies born to surrogates overseas (mostly the United States, Georgia, and Colombia) to protest pay cuts and deteriorating work conditions. Though the Foreign Ministry has faced numerous budget cuts, the workload of foreign consular services employees has increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After a series of unreasonable events and requests, such as elimination of overtime pay and required availability 24 hours a day, the union is protesting and calling for better treatment.
Priyanka A Chokhani | Times of India | September 2, 2021
When the first wave of COVID-19 cases surged in India, small business owners and laid-off employees pawned their valuables to buy food and repay debts. When the second wave hit, there was nothing left to sell. Many women became egg donors or surrogates to help pay for family expenses. A doctor at one fertility center said, “Inquiries from women wanting to become surrogates have increased up to 10-fold during the pandemic.” Meanwhile, a proposed bill banning commercial surrogacy is under review.
Caitlin Fitzsimmons | The Sydney Morning Herald | June 13, 2021
A surrogacy education charity is helping Australian citizens obtain COVID travel exemptions from the government to go abroad for IVF treatment or surrogacy arrangements not available under federal or state law. All but one state in Australia forbid commercial surrogacy and all require egg donation be altruistic, so eggs are not available and intended parents are traveling outside the country for fertility treatments. Proponents of the Australian surrogacy legislation express shock that such a charity would help citizens circumvent a law meant to protect women from the exploitative nature of commercial surrogacy.
Cathy Sakimura and Emily Galpern | Men Having Babies Blog | April 29, 2021
Men Having Babies posted this ethical approach to surrogacy during COVID, by Surrogacy360’s own Emily Galpern and National Center for Lesbian Rights’ Cathy Sakimura. This approach strives to minimize the effects of gender, economic, global, and racial inequities that impact the bargaining power of people acting as surrogate or egg donors; to ensure that surrogates’ basic rights and ability to achieve a just contract are respected; and recognizes the rights of people born through surrogacy to legal security and knowledge about their origins. Intended parents must also not be discriminated against due to sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status.
Aodhan O’Faolain | Irish Times | April 16, 2021
An Irish couple who traveled to Ukraine to welcome their surrogacy-born son, were not going to be allowed to return home. New travel bans were enacted while they were away, requiring travelers from certain countries to pre-book a quarantine hotel. The couple challenged the government’s failure to ensure their return to Ireland as a breach of their constitutional rights and endangerment of their newborn’s health. High Court Judge Brian O’Moore announced the State would pass regulations to allow the family to return to Ukraine without having to quarantine.
Carter Sherman | Vice | March 9, 2021
Many intended parents are asking agencies to match them with surrogates who agree not to get a COVID vaccine, despite the fact that contracting COVID during pregnancy could increase the risk of severity of the illness and also lead to pre-term birth. The article discusses the importance of communicating about the vaccine prior to entering into a contract, and raises the issue of the power differential between intended parents’ requirements in a contract and a surrogate’s ability to maintain bodily autonomy.
Kate Baklitskaya, Magalena Chodownik | New Easter Europe | December 24, 2020
This article is a comprehensive piece detailing how surrogacy practices in the already unregulated Ukraine have worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. The difficulties in protecting the rights of both Ukrainian surrogates and children are highlighted, along with the illegal practice of moving surrogates across the Polish border to arrange childbirth inside the EU. Human rights activists in Ukraine and Poland are calling for regulation of the surrogacy industry in both countries.