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.
Blair Sowry | BioNews | February 21, 2022
For the first time, a baby has been born via surrogacy to a gay couple in North Ireland. The couple is now trying to register their child’s name under both of their names, which would set another precedent for LGBTQ couples in the country.
Clio Yang | ABC News | February 21, 2022
Mr. Tsou and his husband are looking for international surrogacy arrangements because adoption by gay married couples is not legal in Taiwan. However, a couple of exceptions have been granted in the best interest of the child, and more inclusive ART legislation is being reviewed by the government.
Laura Lynott | Independent.ie | February 13, 2022
14 babies were born to surrogates between May 2021 and present-day in Ukraine, which is currently under threat of invasion by Russian military forces. The Irish intended parents, advised against traveling to Ukraine under the current circumstances, may need to pay 88 Euros a day for nannies to care for their children.
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.
Stuart Winer and TOI Staff | Times of Israel | January 4, 2022
Same-sex couples, single men, and transgender people can now become parents through surrogacy, an option previously denied to them in Israel. This ruling ends a decade-long legal battle that started with a petition filed by a gay couple in 2010. Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz also reassured prospective surrogates that the government is committed to protecting their rights and health.
Stephen D’Angelo | Cornell Chronicle | November 12, 2021
According to a new study from Cornell and Virginia Tech, the political left and right both consider bodily markets morally wrong, but for different reasons. Services and products in these markets include sex work, commercial surrogacy, and trade of kidneys, plasma, and reproductive cells. Through five studies, the researchers found that liberals believe commercializing human bodies can harm vulnerable communities and exacerbate social inequalities, while conservatives believe commercialization corrupts the sanctity of the human body and reduces it to a commodity. Understanding the differences can help lawmakers design policies on bodily markets that their constituents might support.
Ellie Houghtaling | The Guardian | November 7, 2021
In this narrative, Columbia University School of Journalism student Ellie Houghtaling describes egg donation as both a business transaction with the clinic and a way to help prospective parents achieve their dreams. Houghtaling, surprised by the screening process focusing on egg donors’ physical features and education level, notes the eugenic underpinnings of donor selection. Near the end of the process, she comments that she felt disrespected due to the disorganized surgery schedule and lack of health resources. Many young women are attracted to the $3,000-$10,000 checks offered by egg donation clinics to sustain the high cost of living or tuition in big American cities, but there is an extreme gap in data and long-term research on health implications for donors. To protect women who undergo egg donation, an egg donor registry could be helpful to track long-term health implications.
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.
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.
