Traditional Surrogacy Research Articles

Why's it gotta be so complicated: New York's regulation of compensated traditional surrogacy agreements creates a constitutional violation

AbstractNew York's Child–Parent Security Act (CPSA) legalized compensated gestational surrogacy and created a simpler way for parents to establish their parental rights when utilizing assisted reproductive technology (ART). While this was a substantial step forward from past antiquated law, the CPSA continues to heavily regulate compensated genetic, otherwise known as traditional, surrogacy making it challenging to use. The CPSA infringes upon the right to procreate by limiting the ART methods available to those wanting to start a family. This Note proposes an amendment to the current CPSA, including the legalization of compensated traditional surrogacy in New York.

'I know it's not normal but it's normal to me, and that's all that matters': experiences of young adults conceived through egg donation, sperm donation, and surrogacy.

What are thoughts and feelings of young adults born following egg donation, sperm donation, and surrogacy? Young adults felt either unconcerned or positive about the method of their conception. Much of what we know about adults born to heterosexual couples following anonymous donation has come from samples of donor conceived people who had found out about their origins during adulthood. There have been no studies of how young adults born through surrogacy feel about their conception and towards their surrogate. Thirty-five young adults were interviewed as part of the seventh phase of a larger multi-method, multi-informant longitudinal study of assisted conception families in the UK. Adults were conceived using either egg donation, sperm donation, gestational surrogacy, or genetic surrogacy and were raised in households headed by heterosexual couples. Participants had a mean age of 20 years and were born following traditional surrogacy (n = 10), gestational surrogacy (n = 5), egg donation (n = 11), or sperm donation (n = 9). All young adults born following sperm donation and most (n = 10) born from egg donation had an anonymous donor. In all surrogacy arrangements, the parents had met the surrogate prior to treatment. The majority of young adults were told about their conception by the age of 4 years. Participants were interviewed over the internet using a semi-structured interview. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using qualitative content analysis to understand young adults' thoughts and experiences related to their conception and whether they were interested in meeting their donor or surrogate. Fourteen (40%) young adults felt their conception made them feel special or unique, with the remainder feeling either neutral or unconcerned (n = 21, 60%). A higher proportion of young adults conceived using egg donation (n = 8, 73%) felt unique/special compared to young adults born following sperm donation and surrogacy. For 10 of the young adults, their feelings about their conception had changed over time, with most becoming more positive (n = 9, 26%). For most young adults (n = 22, 63%), conception was rarely or infrequently discussed with others. However, when it was, these conversations were largely conducted with ease. Most (n = 25, 71%) did not know other individuals born through the same method of conception as themselves, and the vast majority (n = 34, 97%) were not members of any support groups. For the 25 young adults not in contact with their donor or surrogate, 11 wished to meet them, 8 did not want to have contact, and 6 were unsure. Young adults in contact with their donor or surrogate had varying levels of closeness to them. Only one young adult had searched for the identity of their donor. Of the 47 young adults invited to participate in the present study, 35 agreed to take part resulting in a response rate of 74%. It is therefore not known how those who did not take part felt about their conception. Given that the families reported here had been taking part in this longitudinal study from when the target child was aged 1 year, they may have been more likely to discuss the child's conception than other families. The study also utilized self-report measures, which may have been prone to social desirability, with donor conceived young adults wanting to present their experiences in a positive light. The findings suggest that young adults born through surrogacy and donor conception do not feel negatively about their birth and this may be a consequence of the young age at which they found out about their conception. Although some young adults said they wished to meet their donor, this did not necessarily mean they were actively searching for them. The study was funded by the Wellcome Trust [grant number 208013/Z/17/Z]. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. N/A.

Ethical Need for a Fertility Decision-Aid for Transgender Adults of Reproductive Age

Ethical Need for a Fertility Decision-Aid for Transgender Adults of Reproductive Age

“Doing it Our Way” Participation and Kinship in Traditional Surrogacy Narratives in Aotearoa New Zealand

The practice of traditional surrogacy gives rise to multiple discourses around women’s autonomy and kinship practices globally. In the Aotearoa New Zealand context, traditional surrogacy (where the surrogate donates her own egg as well as gestating the foetus) is legal only on an altruistic basis. Furthermore, it is subject to neither medical nor state oversight, unlike gestational surrogacy which is heavily regulated. Drawing on three years of ethnographic research, this article focuses on both traditional surrogates in Aotearoa New Zealand who have children of their own and those who have chosen a childfree life. Their narratives reveal multilayered motivations that align with and diverge from the ‘help’ narrative often associated with altruistic surrogacy. By drawing on and contributing to current debates on surrogacy globally, I show that traditional surrogates take on their role with clear ideas about kinship and different interpretations of reproductive participation. Their narratives bring to the fore the under-researched topic of traditional surrogacy, and in particular of women who do not want children of their own but choose to donate their eggs and gestate the foetus for another woman. I argue that their negotiation of stigma to make/resist kin disrupts pervasive heteronormative modes of kinship.

IS THE SEMITIC CHARACTER OF HAGAR AN EXAMPLE OF A SURROGATE MOTHER? A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SEMITIC RELIGIONS AND SCIENCE

Purpose of the study: This paper explores the religious perspective on marriage, captive girls, and the status of slave girls and their children in Semitic religions, examining the legitimacy of concubine's children compared to surrogate mothers. Methodology: The scientific techniques of in vitro fertilization (IVF) will be examined to elucidate both gestational and traditional surrogacy methods. Main Findings: The findings suggest that while Semitic religions validate the status of concubines' children as legitimate heirs, the comparison between concubines and surrogate mothers is limited due to religious debates over the legitimacy of surrogacy and the technological advancements involved, highlighting distinct roles and dynamics within religious frameworks. Applications of the study: The application of this research could provide insights into the historical and religious perspectives on surrogate motherhood, informing discussions on the intersection of religion, culture, and reproductive technologies. Novelty/Originality of the study: The novelty of this research lies in its interdisciplinary exploration, comparing the portrayal of Hagar within Semitic religions to contemporary perspectives on surrogate motherhood, bridging religious studies and scientific inquiry.

Reframing the Australian Medico-Legal Model of Infertility.

Australian law affirms a binary construction of fertility/infertility. This model is based upon the medical categorization of infertility as a disease. Law supports medicine in prioritizing technology, such as in vitro fertilization, as treatment for infertility. This prioritization of a medico-legal model of infertility in turn marginalizes alternative means of family creation such as adoption, fostering, traditional surrogacy, and childlessness. This paper argues that this binary model masks the impact of medicalization upon reproductive choice and limits opportunity for infertile individuals to create families. While medical technology should be available to enhance reproductive opportunity, infertile individuals will benefit from regulatory change which disentangles the medico-legal construct of infertility as a disease from the desire to create a family. This paper suggests that the medico-legal model of infertility should be reframed to support all opportunities for family creation equally, including non-medical opportunities such as adoption, fostering, and childlessness.

PERMISSIBILITY OF SURROGACY IN ISLAMIC LAW

The issue on Surrogacy has been a much debatable one from the Shariah perspective since mid-1980s and is still being discussed. Shariah shows the Islamic way of life, where medicine plays an integral part. The Prophet Muhammad founded a medical tradition in relation to human beings in their totality in which the spiritual, the psychological, and the physical were considered from social milieu as well. Marriage being half of the religion, as described by the Prophet, children are also considered as great and blessed gift of Allah. On the other hand, Literal meaning of the word ‘surrogate’ is ‘substitute’ or ‘replacement’. A ‘surrogate mother’ is therefore a substitute or tentative mother who is willing to bear child for another woman. The idea and process of surrogate motherhood, where a woman acts as an incubator for another couple for payment or otherwise, is vehemently rejected and condemned by most of the modern Muslim scholars. This issue was first addressed at the seventh session of the Muslim World League’s Islamic Fiqh Council meeting in 1404 AH/1985 CE, wherein the following year, the Council permitted fertilisation of the zygote only among married couples but with certain conditions. The Council however retracted its earlier views on permitting surrogacy among co-wives of the same husband.1 Similarly, the Fiqh Council of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in 1986 concluded that surrogacy could be permissible only between married couples and under certain conditions. Many Muslim scholars consider it a form of unlawful sexual intercourse (zina). Others quote a large number of verses and traditions to show that such an act runs counter to the intention of the Lawgiver, and it also opposes the laws of nature determined by the Almighty. View of Islamic jurists (Fatwas) seems to be absolute regarding traditional surrogacy that it is strictly forbidden but when it comes to gestational surrogacy, (the embryo is actually created by using the ova and sperm of the commissioning couple), there is no absolute prohibition or permission under Shari’ah (Islamic Law). The paper argues that none of the arguments given by the modern scholars against the legal validity of surrogate motherhood are sound. The implication of the texts they quote is not what is intended by these scholars. In fact, there is nothing in the texts or even the writings of the jurists that opposes this process. There may also be arguments in Islamic legal literature that would encourage such a process. The paper also argues that surrogate motherhood may be declared valid with certain conditions. This paper attempts to build a self-contained argument vis-a-vis infertility and surrogacy from Sunni-Islamic perspectives, taking into account socio-cultural and psychological aspects of this issue. Conversely this paper contends that surrogacy and the process thereof does not fall under the definition of zinā, since the evidences given by these Islamic scholars–against the illegitimacy of child and surrogate parenthood–have no foundations in this juncture to declare the practice of surrogacy as adultery and the resulting baby as an illegitimate. This research paper discusses the validity of gestational surrogacy under shari’ah and recommends some measures to establish limits to avoid social disorders & anomalies in surrogate parenting that outweigh any of its expected benefits to the human society.

SophieLewisFull Surrogacy Now: Feminism Against FamilyVerso Books, 2019. 224 p. £14.99

SophieLewisFull Surrogacy Now: Feminism Against FamilyVerso Books, 2019. 224 p. £14.99

Use of gestational surrogacy for a patient with recurrent pregnancy loss from early onset of severe pre-eclampsia: Case report.

Introduction: The use of a gestational carrier deserves consideration as a treatment option in patients with poor reproductive histories because of early onset severe pre-eclampsia (PET) and hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelets syndrome (HELLP). The case report is of 33 years old woman and 35 years old husband who presented with bad obstetric outcome of 7 pregnancies losses in the second trimester due to severe PET. After the 7th pregnancy loss, the couple opted for gestational surrogacy. In a traditional surrogacy arrangement, the surrogate mother provides the oocyte and the uterus to foster a pregnancy. With a gestational surrogate IVF cycle, the gestational surrogate is not the genetic mother because she does not provide the oocyte. In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) was undertaken using the patients oocytes and her husband’s sperm with the transfer of three embryos to a gestational surrogate where conception occurred with subsequent twin delivery. 
 The objective of this case report is to report a case of gestational surrogate treatment in the prevention of severe early onset pre-eclampsia (PET) with subsequent term twin delivery.

Methods of Legal Regulation for Surrogacy in Ukraine and Abroad

Almost at the onset of surrogacy as a method of ART, it has been attracting the attention of society as the way to fulfill the issue of high priority – procreation and family. Surrogacy has become one of the main research objects of bioethics that studies the ethical and moral aspects of the use of new biological and medical technologies. The main issue of this article is the identification and comparative analysis of the features of the legal regulation of the method of surrogacy in Ukraine and other countries. The particular importance lies in specifying those prohibitions and restrictions, who they are applied to, and how they relate to the human right to procreation. The comparison to the laws of other countries that have a better legal surrogacy regulation will take place. The theoretical and practical significance of the work is reflected in the fact that the results can be used in the further theoretical development of the legal issues related to surrogacy as one of the methods of human assisted reproduction. The research made it possible to find out the basic terms that are used in the legal regulation of surrogacy. In the course of the research, it was found out that legal regulation of the use of the ART methods in the word, including surrogacy, varies depending on the jurisdiction. Each country has their laws. Nowadays it is possible to divide legal regulation of the use of the surrogacy method into four basic legal regimes: – regime of permission; – regime of restriction; – regime of complete prohibition (in any form); – regime of uncertainty. Ukrainian legislation is considered to be very liberal in relation to surrogacy. Major types of surrogacy, including commercial surrogacy, are permitted and widely used. Moreover, in Ukraine, legislation does not allow traditional surrogacy, and also does not allow couples who do not have a registered marriage, single people, and same-sex couples, to use this method. It should also be borne in mind that the method of surrogacy can only be used for medical reasons. In Ukraine, taking into account the peculiarities of notarization, agreements (contracts) on commercial surrogacy should be preferably signed by a notary. However, in the legislative norms there is no direct reference to the notarized form of such an agreement.The obtained research results indicate that Ukrainian surrogacy legal regulation is lacking a special law and thus remains fragmented. According to the author, only through the adoption of a special law in Ukraine, it will be possible to make proper legal regulation of basic reproductive human rights, including the application of the method of surrogacy, the peculiarities of concluding surrogacy agreements, post-mortem human reproduction and delayed parenthood.

Mapping Young Indians’ Views Regarding the Acceptability of Surrogate Motherhood: A Pilot Survey

The objective was to map young Indians’ views regarding the acceptability of surrogacy, and to delineate the circumstances under which surrogacy is considered as especially problematic. In India, the number of fertility clinics currently operating in the whole country is estimated at over 3,000, making India the international leader in surrogacy. Very recently, however, surrogacy has become controversial. Participants (N = 430) were presented with scenarios depicting the circumstances in which a couple has contracted with a surrogate mother, and they were asked to indicate the extent to which such a contract may pose a moral problem. The scenarios involved four factors: the type of surrogacy (traditional or gestational), the mother’s level of autonomy, the family context, and whether surrogacy was of the commercial or the altruistic kind. Four different personal positions were found: a group for which (a) surrogacy always posed a moral problem (22%), (b) traditional surrogacy but not gestational surrogacy always posed a moral problem (15%), (c) surrogacy did not pose a problem each time the husband agrees with the procedure (40%), and (d) a group that chose not to express any position (23%). Although surrogacy is legal and big business, young people’s opinion seems to be divided on this issue. Even those who consider that surrogacy is not within itself an unacceptable procedure disagree regarding the conditions of its acceptability. This complex set of diverging attitudes, if replicated on large, representative samples, may explain the current government wavering on this issue and its recent decision that surrogacy services are forbidden for foreigners.

Inheritance Rights of a Child Born From a Surrogate Mother According to Indonesian Law

Throughout the lives of human beings, starting from one’s birth to their death, one may see that rights and obligations are always present. The issue of inheritance comes up at the end of a person’s life. The division of one’s inheritance is a complex matter, especially when it comes to the right to inherit for a child that is born from a Surrogate Mother. Surrogacy procedures are a form of Assisted Reproductive Technologies that aids married couples who are unable to have an offspring naturally due to health issues or abnormalities, and therefore must be assisted by these treatments. There are two different types of Surrogacy, namely Traditional Surrogacy and Gestational Surrogacy. Traditional Surrogacy is legally allowed in Indonesia, but there are no laws that specifically regulate Gestational Surrogacy; there are however, laws that imply the prohibition of it being practiced as a method of Assisted Reproductive Technologies. According to Indonesian laws, a child born from Gestational Surrogacy is considered either an illegitimate child or a child born from adultery, thus creating a problem regarding their inheritance, for the child will be unable to receive inheritance from their parents, even though the intent of Gestational Surrogacy is to have a child for the intended parents to raise as their own. This article will discuss the legality of Gestational Surrogacy as well as the issue of inheritance for a child born by the procedure; this includes regulations that tackle the issue and hopeful solutions for the issue at hand.

Labor of Love: Gestational Surrogacy and the Work of Making Babies. By Heather Jacobson. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2016. Pp. x+203. $90.00 (cloth); $28.95 (paper).

<i>Labor of Love: Gestational Surrogacy and the Work of Making Babies</i>. By Heather Jacobson. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2016. Pp. x+203. $90.00 (cloth); $28.95 (paper).

The Updating of Baby M: A Confused Jurisprudence Becomes More Confusing

States differ in a number of respects with regard to the conditions under which surrogacy contracts are enforceable. Some states distinguish between gestational and traditional (genetic) surrogacy contracts, treating the former but not the latter as enforceable, whereas others make no such distinction. Some states distinguish between commercial and non-commercial surrogacy, whereas others make no such distinction. In short, there is a patchwork of laws regarding the conditions under which surrogacy contracts are enforceable. This patchwork notwithstanding, the current trend is to enforce gestational but not traditional surrogacy agreements. While commentators may debate whether that is the best policy, such a policy choice offers some clarity and predictability to both would-be commissioning couples and would-be surrogates. Nonetheless, recent decisions have modified the jurisprudence in surprising ways, sometimes creating the potential for harm to families and children. This article first discusses two seminal cases—one addressing the enforceability of a traditional (genetic) surrogacy agreement and the other addressing the enforceability of a gestational surrogacy agreement. The article then discusses some of the ways in which the approaches to gestational and genetic surrogacy have blurred, creating the potential for harm to families and children. The article concludes that unless courts deciding surrogacy disputes take better account of some of the foreseeable results of their decisions, these courts may unwittingly bring about results that almost no one would prospectively endorse.

Comparative Analysis of Surrogacy in the Northeast region of the U.S

Advancement in the science of Artificial Reproductive Therapies (ART) has led to an increase of children born pursuant surrogacy arrangements. It is considered to be a form of family building for couples or individuals who are unable to carry a pregnancy. Within the United States, there are two surrogacy models, Gestational and Traditional. Gestational surrogacy is when the intended parents obtain a surrogate host who will carry the fetus until delivery. As part of the agreement, the surrogate relinquishes parental rights prior to the birth of the child. Traditional surrogacy is when the intended parents obtain a surrogate host who will agree to provide an ovum and carry the fetus until delivery. The embryo is a product of the surrogate and the husband of the commissioning couple, thus creating a genetic link between the surrogate and child. Parental rights are relinquished by the surrogate at the time of delivery, but due to the variability in adoption laws, may not be official for up to several years. Surrogacy as a viable option for infertile couples should be taken into consideration when one of the following circumstances are present: it is biologically impossible for one or both intended parents and/or is medically contraindicated to carry a baby regardless if this condition is congenital or acquired.

Law of assisted reproductive surrogacy in Malaysia: a critical overview

Both traditional and gestational surrogacy are now entering the public mind as a major public policy issue, because of concern for apparent truncation of the surrogate mother’s rights. This article sets out to investigate some key relevant rights, the policy issues as yet unresolved, and the character of the current regulatory regime. Modern medicine, specifically assisted reproductive technology, has made legislation obsolete in many jurisdictions around the world, including in Malaysia. These new medical practices present many significant legal problems, with which the courts and legislators still struggle. A proposed statute, the Assisted Reproductive Technique Services Act, aimed at regulating reproductive technologies, including surrogacy arrangements, will be introduced in the Malaysian parliament soon. The proposed Malaysian Act will address issues such as surrogacy, sperm or egg banking, and sperm donation. Malaysia is moving cautiously towards regulation on this issue and is trying to avoid becoming a ‘rent-a-womb country’. Thus, this article asks the question as to what policy considerations are in place, in the current Malaysian regulatory regime, to care for the rights of the surrogate mother? It will try to show that there is still a danger that Malaysia could become a ‘rent-a-womb country’, with its necessary implications of property rights over surrogate mothers. The article employs section-by-section synthesis to reach its conclusions. Argument will suggest that the current state of the law in Malaysia, as to both traditional and gestational surrogacy, seems to be that the regulatory regime is a combination of the general law, private ordering, registration and enforceable professional ethics. However, there is no Malaysian statutory law in place, in the contemporary social context, expressly prohibiting a term in a surrogacy contract that might imply property rights over the surrogate mother. This is a serious apparent lacuna in the law, and might suggest that the laws of transnational crime be considered, as an alternative, as applicable to the surrogacy agreement.

Gestational Surrogacy and Shariiah

Literal meaning of the word ‘surrogate’ is ‘substitute’ or ‘replacement’. A ‘surrogate mother’ is therefore a substitute or tentative mother who is willing to bear child for another woman. The most common and least expensive kind of the surrogacy is when the ova of the surrogate is fertilized with the sperm of the male partner (the commissioning father) of the couple desiring child. This type of surrogacy is known as ‘genetic’, ‘partial’ or ‘traditional’ surrogacy. Another type of surrogacy involves the process of vitro fertilization. In this kind of surrogacy the embryo is actually created by using the ova and sperm of the commissioning couple. Once the embryo is successfully created it is transferred to the surrogate’s uterus who shall carry it till birth. This type of surrogacy is known as the ‘gestational’, ‘host’ or ‘full’ surrogacy.Of about 50-80 million infertile couples worldwide, more than half are Muslims. Recent studies show that Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) are responsible for between 219,000 and 246,000 babies born each year worldwide. Clearly, the time has come to understand and examine the globalization of Assisted Reproductive Technologies to diverse Islamic contexts specially with respect to the rapid technological growth and globalization of these biotechnologies. To overcome infertility the young Muslim infertile couples must give weight to the rulings of the Islamic Jurists regarding ARTs. One of the most controversial aspects of ARTs within Islam is the use of surrogate mother. For Muslims ARTs must be Shari’ah complaint. View of Islamic jurists (Fatwas) seems to be absolute regarding traditional surrogacy that it is strictly forbidden but when it comes to gestational surrogacy, there is no absolute prohibition or permission under Shari’ah (Islamic Law). This research paper discusses the validity of gestational surrogacy under Shari’ah and recommends some measures to establish limits to avoid social disorders & anomalies in surrogate parenting that outweigh any of its expected benefits to the human society.

Should Deceased Donation be Morally Preferred in Uterine Transplantation Trials?

In recent years much research has been undertaken regarding the feasibility of the human uterine transplant (UTx) as a treatment for absolute uterine factor infertility (AUFI). Should it reach clinical application this procedure would allow such individuals what is often a much‐desired opportunity to become not only social mothers (via adoption or traditional surrogacy arrangements), or genetic and social mothers (through gestational surrogacy) but mothers in a social, genetic and gestational sense. Like many experimental transplantation procedures such as face, hand, corneal and larynx transplants, UTx as a therapeutic option falls firmly into the camp of the quality of life (QOL) transplant, undertaken with the aim, not to save a life, but to enrich one. However, unlike most of these novel procedures – where one would be unlikely to find a willing living donor or an ethics committee that would sanction such a donation – the organs to be transplanted in UTx are potentially available from both living and deceased donors.In this article, in the light of the recent nine‐case research trial in Sweden which used uteri obtained from living donors, and the assertions on the part of a number of other research teams currently preparing trials that they will only be using deceased donors, I explore the question of whether, in the case of UTx, there exist compelling moral reasons to prefer the use of deceased donors despite the benefits that may be associated with the use of organs obtained from the living.

Child Rights in Surrogacy

A surrogacy arrangement or surrogacy agreement is the carrying of a pregnancy for intended parents. There are two main types of surrogacy, gestational surrogacy (also known as host or full surrogacy1) which was first achieved in April 1986 2 and traditional surrogacy (also known as partial, genetic, or straight surrogacy). But with all this comes the question of Child Rights for e.g. “who has the rights to the child conceived via surrogacy?”; “Is the surrogate mother the legal guardian of the child?” and so on. In this paper I will try to answer the questions related to child rights during surrogacy and adoption.

Surrogate or “Mother”? The Problem of Traditional Surrogacy

Surrogate or “Mother”? The Problem of Traditional Surrogacy