Just a thought about another consequence of moving to an altruistic surrogacy model. (If you’re joining in here you might want to go back a bit to here to get caught up or you could go here to a definition of terms.) At least as I’m contemplating it, altruistic surrogacy is a way of organizing surrogacy while still recognizing the surrogate as the (initial) mother of the child. (The idea is that the surrogate will then yield her rights and allow the intending parent or parents to adopt. Before you object that this is fanciful, you should read back a bit–it seems to be the way things work in the UK.)
As I just said, in altruistic surrogacy the surrogate is the (initial) mother of the child. That being the case, one could just as well use her eggs as those of an egg donor. Of course, if one of the intending parents is female she might want to use her own eggs (and then IVF). And there could be many reasons why intending parents might prefer a donor egg. But right now there are also significant legal reasons for not doing “traditional surrogacy”–that is, surrogacy using the surrogate’s own egg.
Here is what I mean. In a number of jurisdictions a gestational surrogate is not a mother while a traditional surrogate is a mother. (That’s because genetic linkage defines parenthood–and I’ve written about that at some length.) I those states, there are strong legal reasons to prefer gestational surrogacy. Indeed, that’s the standard practice of most commercial surrogacy centers.
If the surrogate is a mother by virtue giving birth then you might just as well (from a legal point of view) use her eggs too. I mean, she either is or is not a mother. She cannot be more of a mother because of the genetic connection.
Now why is this a good thing? Well, it probably would help reduce the cost of surrogacy, thus making it more widely available. Egg donation and IVF add substantially to the cost. If you use the surrogates own eggs, you only need to use assisted insemination, a far cheaper procedure.
I know there are a number of non-legal reasons why people might not choose this avenue. For example, some surrogates might prefer to be pregnant with an embryo they had no genetic connection to because it would make turning over the child easier. And some intending parent(s) might prefer to increase the distance between surrogate and child. And of course, some might want eggs from a specific source–the intending mother or a sibling or friend.
Still, having the option is a plus, I think.
1 response so far ↓
Bill Singer // April 23, 2008 at 7:41 am |
There is an interesting front page article in this week’s New Jersey Law Journal (www.njlj.com).
Unfortunately, I can not give you a better link to the entire article.
The headline reads: “A New Breed of Baby M Litigation; Surrogate mother seeks not only custody but also damages from the doctor and lawyer who brokered the arrangements.”
I was aware of this case. A gay male couple asked the sister of one of them to carry the twins which had been fertilized through another individual’s egg donations. The plans backfired when the sister decided to assert rights of parentage and is being represented by a lawyer who had represented the mother in the original Baby M Litigation.