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Should Surrogate Motherhood be Allowed? Essay

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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
Surrogacy is when …show more content…

in Virginia, surrogacy agreements are void and unenforceable. Thus, so far, among those states that have legislated on the issue, many are legislating that these agreements are void and unenforceable in order to try to deter couples and surrogates from entering into agreements.(1-2)

Surrogate arrangements are made usually through close friends or relatives of the childless couple. However, the practice of commercial surrogacy has increased greatly during the last decade. Many major cities have surrogate agencies that maintain lists of potential surrogate mothers and help match these with couples wanting to have a baby. These agencies are often run by doctors or lawyers and may be found through listings in telephone books. Commercial surrogate agencies typically charge a fee of $10,000 or more to make the arrangements, which is in addition to the surrogate mother’s expenses and fees. These agencies are not legal in all states.
Most commercial surrogacies are handled through a contract between the prospective parents and the surrogate mother. 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,

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