Points to Consider on the Subject of Surrogacy: "Many people do not understand the fairly intricate legal procedures (translate: substantial time and cost) which are required pre-birth in order to make sure that the biological parents are named as parents on the child's birth certificate. I have had numerous calls and letters from people who were sure that I was trying to fleece them when I explained this. They truly believed that they could just give the hospital a written statement from the IVF doctor, or the surrogate, or themselves, and that would take care of things. Please do not be fooled into thinking that you can avoid the standard legal procedures, whatever they may be for your jurisdiction. In California, these procedures vary depending on whether the surrogate conceived via artificial insemination (AI), or by in vitro fertilization (IVF). During an IVF pregnancy, the Intended Parents file a legal proceeding which the surrogate (and her husband, if married) join in agreement. The court then issues a Judgment which states that the Intended Parents are the legal parents; that neither the surrogate nor her husband have any legal rights or responsibilities; that the hospital personnel must name the Intended Parents on the birth certificate; and that the Intended Parents are allowed to name the child. Since the hospital personnel only have ten days post-birth to prepare the birth certificate, it is wise to start the legal proceeding during the sixth month of pregnancy, to allow sufficient time for the court to process the paperwork."
At least this can be done legally in California. None of this is legally possible in India, which means all surrogacy treatment in India at present is technically illegal. The law does not recognise genetic parentage; and only recognises the birth mother as being the parent.
I think that surrogacy is frought with many emotional complications. I can't imagine carrying and giving birth to a child that I would give up. The only way I would consider doing it is for a close relative, and only if this was done from the biological mother's egg being fertilized by the father's sperm and then implanted. Then there would be a familial closeness even if I weren't raising the child.
ReplyDeleteThere have certainly been problems with surrogacy here in the United States. I've never been too sure that it's a good idea.