A surrogacy contract is a document signed by two people or parties that agree with traditional or gestational surrogacy; one party receives monetary compensation while the other receives a child. Currently there is a sharp increase in the number of foreign inquiries to India in pursuit of finding women willing to be a surrogate (Gentleman, p.2). This can be seen as taking advantage of a poverty loomed country as the money is hard for these impoverished women to turn away (Gentleman, p.3). The surrogacy market is estimated to bring in $445 million annually to India and is expected to grow as news of the success stories become known (Warner, p.2). In the US the cost of surrogacy is approximately $75,000 to $80,000 per pregnancy, however in India, where commercial surrogacy is legal the price comes to around $25,000 (Sandel, p.100). The Indian surrogate will receive about $7,500 for their services, which is many times their potential annual income (Sandel, p.100). Surrogacy raises questions about the market’s ethical limits due to the belief that affluent consumers are exploiting economically challenged women’s reproductive systems in exchange for money, which Sandel criticizes as being degrading or dehumanizing (Sandel, p.96). Sandel objects to surrogacy contracts or “reproductive outsourcing” because he believes “treating babies and pregnancy as commodities degrades them, or fails to value them appropriately” meaning the market of surrogacy and surrogacy contracts are
Effective law reform such as The Surrogacy Act 2010 (NSW) has greatly improved the Government responses to issues surrounding Surrogacy. The Act allows for transferral of parentage from the biological mother to the adoptive parents. This allows non-legally binding donor agreements to be considers and accepted, achieving justice for both parties involved in the process. By adapting to social values and accepting modern family structure justice is served for society. When the Surrogacy Act was introduced in March 2011, it becomes illegal to enter a commercial surrogacy agreement oversea in NSW, QLD, ACT, with penalties of up to $100000 or 2 years imprisonment. These penalties are seen in the worse interest for the child, as the child could be without their adoptive parents or grow up in economic hardship due to the fines. Although this is effective as it prohibits commercial surrogacy, as it underlines rights and freedoms under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), this is mirrored into state legislation to protect the child involved. This is highlighted under article 35 of CRC, where states should take measures to “prevent sale or trafficking of children for any
Why the law is contradictory and ineffective when it comes to overseas surrogacy- Altruistic surrogacy is diversely regulated by the states and territories, raising the issue of the interaction of those laws in international cases. Commercial surrogacy is prohibited in Australia, but is permitted in other countries. An increasing number of Australians exploit this difference by entering into commercial surrogacy agreements overseas, raising the question of the effect of such agreements in Australia. Suggesting that the well-meaning regulation of altruistic surrogacy and criminalisation of commercial surrogacy within Australia is likely to be ineffective in cross-border situations. Accordingly, suggests to reform the Australian law and endorses
The procedures of surrogacy is a delicate and sensitive topic which raises many concerns in the public. As a result of this, Australian laws and courts of law must allow and regulate these practices to make it safe for all involved. Commercial forms of surrogacy agreements are illegal in most states, shown in Part 2, Division 2 in the Surrogacy Act 2010 NSW and Chapter 4 Part 1 in the Surrogacy Act Qld. However, in remaining jurisdictions, couples are allowed to deal in commercial agreements and therefore often turn to an overseas arrangement. It is here where Australian law becomes more obscure and less regulated. In any arrangement including altruistic surrogacy, there are no enforceable laws on the agreement, hence prompting multiple issues regarding the parentage of the child. When the child is born from the gestational carrier- the birth mother and father, according to the Status of the Children Act 1996, are the legal parents. It is when the intended parents apply for a parenting order and accepted by the birth mother that the child’s parentage is transferred- this situation is set out in the case of Re Michael
I read an article that was published on The Hasting Center Journal, called “The Case Against Surrogate Parenting”, by Herbert Krimmel, Krimmel takes a stand against surrogate motherhood arrangements because of the many ethical issues it causes, he argues surrogate motherhood, is a financial profit, there can be conflicts during the process, and is designed to separate in the mind of the surrogate mother. First, Krimmel argues that the reason a woman often or always undertakes the pregnancy is because of the money motive. He states, “The cause of this dissociation is some other benefit she will receive, most often money.' In other words, her desire to create a child is born of some motive other than the desire to be a parent. This separation
The first argument that Anderson proposes is that commercial surrogacy turns women’s labor, that is, bearing and giving birth to the child, into alienated labor. She equates commercial surrogacy to subcontracting work in manufacturing industries, making this parallel because the surrogate is expected to treat her child like a final product with which she is expected to have no emotional bond with. Anderson argues that one can expect the surrogates to develop an emotional bond with the child regardless of the terms of the contract. Moreover, treating the pregnancy like another form of commercial production violates the “precious emotional
Gammy was born to a Thai surrogate who was paid by Australian intended parents. Gammy was born with down syndrome and a hole in his heart requiring extensive medical treatment. The intended parents chose to take Gammy’s healthy twin sister back to Australia, leaving Gammy with his surrogate. This case caused international concern, raising awareness of the lack of regulation of international surrogacy arrangements and highlighting the ethical considerations involved in the practice of
Law reform is considered proactive with relation to surrogacy and birth technologies, as methods of conception must be permitted before they are conducted. Surrogacy, which occurs when one woman agrees to fall pregnant and bear a child for a couple, is illegal in NSW when the woman is paid a fee or award, under the Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2007 (NSW). Hence, surrogacy must be altruistic. Furthermore, the Surrogacy Act 2010 (NSW) now criminalises an international journey for commercial surrogacy.
Baby Business by Insight on SBS had a discussion about surrogacy in relation to a couple that had a baby though surrogacy. In the show it was said that most surrogate mothers have genetically babies, which the mother gives her egg and the father gives his sperm and the doctor inseminates it in the surrogate mother. Most of the everyday people have to the term “renting a womb” towards surrogacy whereas the Women Health Resources
Purdy defends surrogate mothering from a consequentialist point of view. Her case is founded on two premises: firstly, that surrogacy is favourable (that is, it brings about pleasure and reduces pain), and secondly, that the practice is only non-traditional and not morally reprehensible. She thus concludes that "appealing to the sacrosanctity of traditional marriage or of blood ties to prohibit otherwise acceptable practices that would satisfy people 's desires hardly makes sense", and thus, surrogacy should be permissible (Purdy, 1999).
When one or more persons contract with a woman to gestate a child than relinquish that child after birth to the person or couple is known as surrogacy. It is a course of action that goes outside of natural reproduction. For some, it is the only method of having children, extending family. Surrogacy has been stirring up many controversies over the years. Ethics, morals, laws, religious views, etc. have played a major role in the issues that follow the topic of surrogacy. Laws and regulations pertaining to surrogacy vary from state to state. Some states have no enforceable laws
Laws are legislated and enforced for the mere purpose of protecting all individuals in a society by stating what is and what is not acceptable behavior. Though it is impossible for these legislative decisions to please every single individual in a society, these governs are passed in morality of the thousands of elected parties in charge. Commercial surrogacy is a current complex issue that evokes strong moralistic response. Commercial surrogacy takes away the childbearing element in the reproductive period for individuals looking to have or extend a family. It has opened the doors for many who cannot bear children of their own though this behavior has also raised many concerns about the appropriate scope of the market. This “method for acquiring children” is more commonly objected because the children and women’s reproductive ability are being treated as a commodity. Summed up through Elizabeth S. Anderson’s article, “Is Women’s Labor a Commodity?” children are buyer durables and women are baby factories (Anderson 82). Anderson communicates commercial surrogacy children as commodities stating how this “market” that these children are born into expresses attitude that endorses market norms as opposed to ‘norms of parental love”(Anderson 76). Anderson focuses her paper towards the manipulation, alienation, and exploitation of women that commodifies women’s reproductive capacities. Through Anderson’s argument and her perceptive relations of this market to alienation,
In today’s society, surrogacy is becoming a more and more popular and common issue. For many couples who cannot or unwilling to carry babies by themselves, surrogacy is the first choice to have their own babies and build a family. The legality of surrogacy is different for every country. There are countries that consider the birth mother as the legal mother while there are those that don't. Besides, a lower price of surrogacy in developing countries drives them to find surrogate mother overseas. Thus, international
Surrogacy is arrangement in which a woman is hired to carry and give birth to a child who will then be given to another couple or person. The child is usually related to the birth mother, but in some cases, may be related to the surrogate mother. Maria Trimarchi (2008) from a health article on infertility, informs readers of the “two types of surrogacy: traditional and gestational”. With traditional surrogacy, the surrogate mother 's egg is utilized and then fertilized and this makes her the genetic mother of the child. In gestational surrogacy, the egg is provided by the intended mother or a donor (Trimarchi, 2008). The egg is fertilized through In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and then placed inside the surrogate mother (Cheung, 2014).
These two arguments help to show the problem with the purchase and sale of children in relation to surrogacy. Sandel argues that a pregnant mother cannot voluntarily enter into a contract to give her unborn child away once birthed because she is unlikely to be fully informed of all the consequences and details. Sandel goes on to say that treating a child as a commodity degrades them because they are now used as a form of profit. Based on Sandel’s two arguments, when an issue arises over the products or processes of a human body there can be no way in which the transaction could take place in an entirely voluntary matter. One party will always be at a disadvantage in one way or another and societal norms will not allow for transactions, where there appears to be no disadvantage present, to take place.
Some states require a contract among all parties to the surrogacy birthing arrangement, and there are often requirements that the contract address certain issues. However, good practice requires that a host of additional issues be addressed in a contract in order to forge a true "meeting of the minds" on what is undoubtedly one of the most personal and complicated of concerted human actions… (Johnson 5.)