Surrogacy conflicts: why do they exist?

Surrogacy is not a totally regulated field of Law. There are a lot of gaps in legislation, either in the countries, where surrogacy is allowed or banned. Referring to the surrogacy field, we need to remember that it is quite a young method of infertility treatment, for example gestational surrogacy is used from the end of 20^TH century only.

Why legal frameworks of Surrogacy are uncertain?

Why it is not regulated still? Why couples face the problem when their surrogacy babies have unclear legal status and for what your own countries put these babies into “legal limbo”?

To answer these questions we need to understand what Law Regulation is in general. The system of legal rules was created in order to protect the rights and properties of the different actors of a society in which private relations of production developed and as a response to rising inequalities among the population. These inequalities arose first of all because of cultural and economic development of the society, as people had already goods, properties and models of behavior that they wanted to maintain or protect. We should remember, that any legal regulation is always based on the moral foundations of society, because people (creators of rules) always need to be sure what exactly they are going to protect. Morality is a system of principles for a person’s deeply personal attitude to the world from the point of view of his justice. And as long as society has not yet decided whether surrogacy is good or not, a noble goal or women’s exploitation or even a rebellion against God, the legal framework will not come to its balance and will continue to be uncertain.

Moral values battle

Nowadays, we are witnessing some kind of competition between governments, social and healthcare organizations in defence of the preeminence of their own moral values. And we don’t know in reality who will win in the end: will surrogacy be considered as a way of treatment, as we understand it, or will it be considered as violation of human rights? But we do know precisely that infertility problems are rapidly increasing every year and nothing can stop desperate couples who cannot have a baby to seek solutions for achieving the happiness of parenthood. We know for sure, that sometimes Surrogacy motherhood is the only one way for infertile couples to get a baby, and for Surrogate mothers to improve their financial situation.

And if God gives us an opportunity to get two happy families instead of two unhappy, and to help new people to come to our World, why do we need to doubt?

We already accept tissues and cells donation and transplantation of organs in our legal systems. During the surrogacy process, surrogate mother doesn’t lose any part of her body. We use surrogacy just because a human organism cannot be developed in other conditions than in a woman’s womb. Science has not found the way to develop a human being in another way yet. On the other hand, Surrogacy can be a morally tough process for a surrogate mother, as she usually has no legal filial rights to the child she carries. That’s why the compensation for her help is not something terrible, as usually presented in media, but it’s a kind of financial support that Intended Parents are willing to do for the Surrogate mother family for her “carry and delivery in time” services.

Delivery in time

The legal nature of Surrogacy agreement is quite interesting and have elements of a contract to supply services for payment. The Surrogate mother doesn’t sell her body or a child, as the embryo to become the future child is made in laboratory conditions from genetic material of the Intended Parents and sometimes a Donor. The Surrogate mother sells her services of “baby delivery”, the only one thing is that her delivery is not in a distance, but in a time, as she needs to create a certain conditions for baby’s development and take care of him or her during the whole pregnancy until the moment of birth.

Yellow surrogacy journalism

Certain tabloids christened companies working in the Surrogacy field as “baby factories” and Surrogate mothers as “slaves”. We have worked in the surrogacy field for many years and we cannot tell that the Surrogate mothers we work with are very poor or dying of a hunger. They all are contemporary women with their own goals and aspirations and they want to help their children to get better education or life conditions and to help infertile couple to feel the happiness of parenthood. They all have their own children and can always share their love with them after the surrogacy program ends.

Another thing is that we cannot compare a compensation for a Surrogate with a new human’s life creation. We should consider it as a financial support, a help from the Intended Parents or a reasonable compensation for her time and medical care undergone, but not for the baby. A nascent human life is something invaluable by definition.

How much does your child worth to you?

Ask any mother on the Earth, she would never give you the price tag. At the same time, we are very proud that in our daily work we are involved in the most incredible miracle on the Earth – the creation of life.

Legal basis of Children’s rights

The Convention on the Rights of the Child – recognized all over the world-, dated 20^th of November, 1989, in par.2 article 2 says: “States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child’s parents, legal guardians, or family members”. Article 8 of the same Convention prescribes that “States Parties undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations as recognized by law without unlawful interference. Where a child is illegally deprived of some or all of the elements of his or her identity, States Parties shall provide appropriate assistance and protection, with a view to re-establishing speedily his or her identity”.

Never give up!

Despite this Convention’s existence, the term “surrogacy baby” is still used for some reason, as if it would really have some relevance in what way this baby came to our World. We still are fighting side-by-side with New Parents for their genetically related babies’ rights in the Consulates, as not every government is helpful in issuing the citizenship of the newborn babies who were born via surrogacy. Nevertheless we still believe that the situation will change, it has to change and in the mean time we keep fighting the good fight.

We want to help you to achieve the main dream of your life. Contact us today to know more about the Surrogacy programs of Pons Medical Group or book a consultation with one of our specialists totally free of charge.

Author: Sukhanova Anna, legal adviser of Pons Medical Group