Tag: intended parents

Article: Is a Surrogate a Mother?

Is a Surrogate a Mother?
By Michelle Goldberg | Slate | Feb. 15, 2016

61hi6szbudl “Surrogacy’s been distinguished as something completely different from adoption,” says Lisa Ikemoto, a UC Davis School of Law professor who specializes in reproductive rights and bioethics. Unlike in adoption, there’s no legally required screening of intended parents. A pregnant woman who offers to give her baby up for adoption can reconsider her decision; in California, a pregnant surrogate cannot. To a large extent, the law “puts a lot of trust in a surrogacy center to make sure that these things are carried out appropriately,” Ikemoto says. “It’s very industry-friendly, and by ‘industry,’ I’m referring to the fertility industry.”

This article provides an overview of the Melissa Cook case — the story of a 47-year old woman in California who agreed to become a gestational mother and the “battle” that followed, between her and the intended parent, once she became pregnant with triplets.

Though based in the United States, a number of issues that emerged in the case have also been documented in international commercial surrogacy arrangements. This includes legal concerns related to contracts and their enforcement, practices that can impact the health of gestational mothers (such as reductions), and implications on the children that are born.

For those interested, the article also provides a lot of useful information on the 1986 Baby M case — the first contested surrogacy case in American history. Read the full article >

Article: Republic of Unreason

Republic of Unreason
By Suhrith Parthasarathy | The Hindu | Sept. 1, 2016

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Now, there is little doubting that any reasonable government ought to concern itself at some level with the ethics of procreation, especially given the power equations at play in a contract of surrogacy. But is a complete proscription on commercial surrogacy a neutral position to take?

Framed by the death of a 30-year-old gestational mother in India in 2011, and the contract she signed agreeing to life support in order to protect the fetus in the event of life-threatening injury in the third trimester, this opinion article provides a critique of the Indian government’s recent ban on all commercial surrogacy.

Suhrith Parthasarathy comments on the requirements articulated in the new law — for intended parents, gestational mothers, and the money exchanged in between — highlighting flawed assumptions made by the bill and its “violation” of the constitutional pledge of equal treatment.

Read the full article >

Report: Global Surrogacy Practices

Global Surrogacy Practices
By Marcy Darnovsky and Diane Beeson | ISS Working Paper Series / General Series Vol. 601

This report summarizes discussions of participants in Thematic Area 5 (Global Surrogacy Practices) of the International Forum on Intercountry Adoption and Global Surrogacy held in August 2014. The full text is available for download.

From the press release:

We are pleased to announce the publication of Global Surrogacy Practices, co-authored by CGS Executive Director Marcy Darnovsky and CGS Fellow Diane Beeson. The 54-page report is based on presentations and discussions at the International Forum on Intercountry Adoption and Global Surrogacy, a landmark conference that brought together nearly a hundred scholars, women’s health and human rights advocates and policymakers from 27 countries at the International Institute of Social Studies this past summer.

The Forum took place in the wake of international headlines about disturbing cross-border surrogacy incidents, including one case in which an Australian couple abandoned their baby son, who has Down syndrome, with his Thai surrogate mother.

“The Forum provided an unprecedented opportunity for advocates and scholars working on intercountry adoption and on intercountry surrogacy to jointly consider the many concerns that have emerged in connection with these practices,” said CGS Executive Director and report co-author Marcy Darnovsky.

“The conversations centered on ways to improve international standards around the evolving practices of cross-border adoption and surrogacy, in which children typically move from poorer to wealthier countries,” said Kristen Cheney, Forum organizer and Senior Lecturer in Children & Youth Studies at International Institute of Social Studies.

Read the full report >

Diane Beeson is co-founder and associate director of the Alliance for Humane Biotechnology. Marcy Darnovsky is executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society.

Article: Ban on Foreign Nationals for Surrogacy a Blow

Ban on Foreign Nationals for Surrogacy a Blow
By Rajitha S. | The New Indian Express | Aug. 5, 2016

This is one of many articles that covers the Indian government’s recent attempt to restrict surrogacy to an “altruistic deed.” The new legislation will limit arrangements to a gestational mother’s “blood relations, family, community, country,” thereby excluding all foreigners.

The Group of Ministers (GoM), set up at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has also decided to bar single and gay couples from seeking arrangements with gestational mothers, and only allow surrogacy for Indian citizens that are married and infertile. These – and other protections – are, according to sources cited in the article, designed to ensure the normal biological function of a woman’s body is no longer commercialized. Read the full article >

Additional reading:

Article: Surrogacy May Soon Be Confined to Kith and Kin

Surrogacy May Soon Be Confined to Kith and Kin
By Teena Thacker | The Asian Age | Aug. 7, 2016

This article – one of many – reports on the Indian government’s recent attempt to restrict surrogacy to an “altruistic deed.” The new legislation will limit arrangements to a gestational mother’s “blood relations, family, community, country,” thereby excluding all foreigners.

The Group of Ministers (GoM), set up at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has also decided to bar single and gay couples from seeking arrangements with gestational mothers, and only allow surrogacy for Indian citizens that are married and infertile. These – and other protections – are, according to sources cited in the article, designed to ensure the normal biological function of a woman’s body is no longer commercialized.

Read the full article >

Read other articles following recent legislative developments in India >

Article: Surrogacy Comes to Vietnam

Surrogacy Comes to Vietnam
By Xavier Symons | BioEdge | Jan. 23, 2016

This short piece provides information on Vietnam’s amendment to the country’s marriage and family legislation in order to allow altruistic surrogacy.

Under new regulations, couples must have not yet had a child and must show they are unable to conceive, even with IVF. According to the article, three hospitals in Vietnam now offer surrogacy and, at the time of publication, reports that there are over one hundred applications from people considering the option.

Article: The Billion Dollar Babies

Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaperThe Billion Dollar Babies
By Vandy Muong and Will Jackson | The Phnom Penh Post | Jan. 2, 2016

With commercial surrogacy banned in India, Nepal, and Thailand, this article takes a closer look at Cambodia as the next destination. It explores the legal and ethical status of the practice, concluding on a message of “buyer beware” as people considering surrogacy are warned about the risks of not being able to take children home or being charged with human trafficking.

Read the full article >

Article: Shifting Surrogacy Laws Give Birth to Uncertainty

Shifting Surrogacy Laws Give Birth to Uncertainty
By Brad Bertrand | Nikkei Asian Review | Dec. 26, 2015

Excerpt:

Whether Malaysia passes a ban on surrogacy or not, would-be parents are likely to find ways to arrange births somewhere in Asia as the trade moves on.

After legal crackdowns in Thailand and Nepal, this article follows the regional growth of surrogacy in Malaysia and Cambodia, both of which “lack comprehensive legal frameworks to regulate” the practice. With a focus on Malaysia, the author explores the country’s attempts at legislation, including a draft federal law on assisted reproductive technologies.

Read the full article >

Article: The Dwindling Options for Surrogacy Abroad

The Dwindling Options for Surrogacy Abroad
By Danielle Preiss and Pragati Shahi | The Atlantic | May 31, 2016

This comprehensive article covers international commercial surrogacy laws around the world, with emphasis on and the implications of recent legal changes in India, Thailand, and Nepal. It follows an Australian couple, forbidden from paying gestational mothers in their own country, on a journey that spans Israel (the location of their agency), India (where their gestational mother lives), and Nepal (where she travels for embryo transfer and the birth) — with helpful insights on the effects of such arrangements on the children that are caught in the middle.

Read the full article >   

Article: Nepal Bans Surrogacy, Leaving Couples with Few Low Cost Options

Nepal Bans Surrogacy, Leaving Couples with Few Low Cost Options
By Rachel Abrams | The New York Times | May 2, 2016

screen-shot-2016-10-26-at-10-04-30-amCovering international commercial surrogacy after its ban in Nepal, this article provides an overview of regulation related to the practice in many countries. It follows a couple from Israel expecting twins by a gestational mother in Nepal. When one child does not survive, the couple is unsure where to turn, with no remaining embryos, because of the patchwork of laws around the world.

Read the full article >