Surrogacy

Portugal – Portuguese parliament approves surrogacy

Source Macau Business

Portuguese parliament approved on Friday the law authorizing surrogacy, which is the commercial contract that allows the hiring of a woman to be pregnant and give birth to a child who will be delivered to other people.

The new diploma received positive opinions from the National Council for Medically Assisted Procreation and the Portuguese Society for Reproductive Medicine, which added an article limiting this right to natural citizens or permanent residents of Portugal.

According to the approved law, the pregnant woman for hire must have already been the mother of her own child.

It is also decided that the contract should receive prior authorization from the National Council for Medically Assisted Procreation, which is the Portuguese entity that oversees the entire process.

Read more

Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law

Antiquated Michigan Law Forces Couple to Adopt Their Own Babies Born Via Surrogate

Source WCRZ

Tammy and Jordan Myers are facing an uphill climb. The Michigan couple is fighting to adopt their own biological twin babies which were born via surrogate.

This isn’t a plot on a daytime soap opera. The Grand Rapids couple finds themselves up against Michigan’s Surrogate Parenting Act. The 1988 law makes compensated surrogacy illegal in our state and says that even if a surrogacy isn’t compensated, any agreement made between parties won’t be recognized in court.

Read more

Surrogacy

Mother From California Helped Two Couples Start a Family

Source Get News

Sunshine Hanson is not a typical woman. She’s a loving mother, a devoted wife, she runs her own business, and aside from that she also helped two couples grow their families. 

How? By carrying their children through gestational surrogacy. Gestational surrogacy is when a healthy woman carries a pregnancy on behalf of the intended parents through IVF or In-Vitro Fertilization. IVF is a type of assisted reproduction that helps women get pregnant and, in the case of gestational surrogacy, the child is not related to the surrogate at all.

It is quite a complicated process especially for those that are not familiar with it but surrogacy is widely practiced in the United States. In fact, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, between 1999 to 2013 there were 18,400 infants born via a surrogate 8,581 (64%) were single births, 4,566 (34%) were twins, and 233 (2%) were triplets or more.

Read more

Italy, Surrogacy

Ethics Of Surrogacy: The Case Of Baby “Luna” Abandoned In Ukraine

Source Works Crunch

ROME — The story of the surrogate child born in Kiev, and then abandoned by its would-be Italian parents, is filled with deep sadness. No child should ever be let go.

And yet, it happens. It happens when a woman decides to give birth anonymously, and the baby is then given up for adoption. Or when a child is placed in temporary foster care, but then never returns to the family of origin. It happens with some premature-born babies who, after being kept alive with the help of sophisticated therapies, will never be picked up by their parents because of a disability. It even happens with adoption: those rare occasions when the kid is returned, putting him or her through a dramatic “double abandonment.”

Read more

Surrogacy, UK

UK – When I became a surrogate for strangers, my seven-year-old daughter was with me every step of the way

Source Metro UK

Right from the beginning, this pregnancy felt so different from the first time.

For one, now I was a surrogate for a couple that desperately wanted a baby. And instead of feeling embarrassment and discomfort, as was common during my first pregnancy, this time I was determined to embrace it and enjoy every second.

When I was 21, I accidentally fell pregnant after a casual fling. I felt lonely, ashamed and frightened.

Read more

Spain, Surrogacy

Spanish Evangelical Alliance on surrogacy: “It exploits and commodifies women”

Source Evangelical Focus

The Bioethics Working Group of the Spanish Evangelical Alliance (AEE) has published a document analysing the issue of surrogacy.

The text, the first in the Spanish evangelical sphere to address this specific issue, is structured in different sections that present a definition of this practice and a reflection from several points of view, such as theological, social or ethical, and ends with proposals for a near future.

The AEE justifies its publication by the importance that surrogacy has gained in the social and political debate in recent years, and also because of the lack of specific legal regulation of this practice, which is prohibited in Spain but allows babies born through surrogacy in other countries to be registered in the Civil Registry.

Read more

Jamaica, Surrogacy

Jamaica – Letter of the Day | Surrogacy should be legitimised

Source Jamaica Gleaner

From as far back as 2014, there has been discourse in the local media surrounding surrogacy. Since then, publications have been sparse with latest being made in The Gleaner in 2019, which highlighted that Jamaican women are involved in surrogacy tourism.

Currently, there are no laws that regulate surrogacy in Jamaica and with that there is an increased likelihood of human rights abuses against surrogate mothers. There is also the issue of lack of legal protection for intended parents to ensure their full custody of the child/children after birth. It is, therefore, imperative that surrogacy be legitimised in Jamaica. The easiest way to facilitate this, I believe, would be through amendments to existing legislation, namely the Children (Guardianship and Custody) Act and the Children (Adoption of) Act.

Read more

Australia, Grandmother as surrogate, Surrogacy

‘Australia’s oldest surrogate’ is carrying a baby for her daughter who was born without a uterus

Source Metro

‘There is nobody else I’d rather be going through this with’ (Picture: Meagan White / Caters)

At the age of 17, Meagan White was diagnosed with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH) – a condition that meant she was born without a uterus and could never carry a child.

So as an adult, Meagan decided to opt for a surrogate to start a family – but was left heartbroken when the baby passed away at 21 weeks and Covid travel restrictions prevented another attempt.

However there was still hope, as Meagan’s mum Maree Arnold soon discovered she could carry a child for her daughter.

Now the 54-year-old is 30 weeks pregnant with her own grandchild.

Read more

New Zealand, Surrogacy

NZ – Outgoing Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft joins fight to have surrogate child’s dead mother recorded on birth certificateOutgoing Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft joins fight to have surrogate child’s dead mother recorded on birth certificate

Source Newshub

The outgoing Children’s Commissioner is joining the fight to get a surrogate child’s mother’s name recorded on her birth certificate, calling the situation “sad beyond words”.

Paige is the only child in New Zealand who has been stripped of her mother’s identity on her birth certificate. Instead of her mum’s name, it simply says “not recorded”.

Judge Andrew Becroft used his last day as Children’s Commissioner to bring attention to 18-month-old Paige’s situation – which Newshub first brought to light earlier this month. 

Read more

Surrogacy, Surrogate Keeps Baby

Surrogate Mom Gives Birth to Baby Whose Parents Wanted to Abort, Finds New Parents for Her

Source Amomama

In 2011, 29-year-old Crystal Kelley sat with two parents of 3 kids on a playground in Vernon, Connecticut, convinced that they were perfect candidates. This single and struggling mom had been searching for individuals who wanted to pay her to carry their baby. 

At the beginning of the surrogacy process, everyone was ecstatic. However, tragic news would barge into their lives, leading to a series of dramatic events, only to be seen in the movies. 

That beautiful day on the playground soon faded into a faint memory, now filled with pain. Doctors, five months into the pregnancy, revealed devastating news to the parents and the surrogate. 

Read more

Ireland, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law

Ireland – ‘I will not be recognised as my own child’s mother’ — Georgie Crawford on surrogacy challenges

Source Extra.ie

Former radio presenter Georgie Crawford has opened up about the challenges of surrogacy amid reports that the Government will delay legislation on the issue due to legal difficulties.

In an emotional Instagram post, the Good Glow podcaster called on the Government to change the surrogacy laws and provide ‘a pathway to parenthood’.

Ms Crawford pursued surrogacy after she was diagnosed with breast cancer and placed on tamoxifen medication, which reduces the chance of cancer recurring. However, the medication is not recommended for use during pregnancy due to unknown effects on the unborn child.

Read more

Infertility, Surrogacy

She was struggling with infertility. Her best friend was pregnant. Would their friendship survive?

Source Salon.com

When I called up Mel, my best friend of 15 years, to tell her I was pregnant, she replied with a whisper: “Can I hang up now?”

Throughout their years-long infertility journey, Mel and her partner spent upwards of $50,000, enduring five miscarriages and four failed in vitro fertilizations. I’d been one of the few friends Mel opened up to, and she’d been there for me when I miscarried six months earlier. Sometimes sharing pain is easier than sharing joy.

Read more