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Should Surrogate Motherhood Be Allowed?

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Surrogate Motherhood is when one women carries to term the fertilized egg of another woman. This procedure is chosen by married couples who can not conceive a child in the "natural way". In some occasions the mother may be able to produce an egg, but has no womb or some other physical problem which prevents her from carrying a child. Whether or not the husband can produce a large amount of sperm is not a problem. Once the egg and sperm are combined in a petri dish fertilization is very likely to occur. The couple will then choose a surrogate mother and make an agreement in which she will carry the baby and release it to the genetic parents after the birth. There are four different kinds of surrogacy arrangements. Total …show more content…

The contracting couple agrees to pay the surrogate mother's expenses during the pregnancy and delivery plus a fee for the surrogates's services. The fee can vary between $10,000 and
$100,000 per pregnancy. The surrogate mother also agrees to terminate her parental rights to the infant and turn it over to the contracting couple after birth. A vast majority of the surrogacy arrangements proceed without difficulty, occasionally problems arise concerning custody of the child.
Since the concept of commercial surrogacy is relatively new, there are few laws and legal precedents concerning these contracts. In some states these contracts are illegal and are considered null and unenforceable by the courts. (1-5) Many considerations are to be made in selecting a surrogate mother. For instance: is the potential surrogate healthy and free from disease, is the surrogate's genetic material compatible with the contracting couple's expectations, is the surrogate candidate emotionally and psychologically stable, does the potential surrogate live in a stable situation which positively influence the pregnancy, and does the potential surrogate have a family history of genetic defects that might adversely affect the baby? In assessing these issues, the prospective parents might benefit from the services of a professional family counselor. Additionally, the assessment of the surrogate mother's qualifications can be aided by

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