Malta, Same Sex, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law

Pro-life group tears into proposed changes to IVF law

Source Malta Today
The Life Network Foundation says new law will create ethical and legal problems for children born from in-vitro fertilisation

A pro-life group has raised concerns over proposed changes to the Embryo Protection Act, which it says gives short shrift to the legal and ethical issues involved.

Life Network Foundation chairperson, Miriam Sciberras, was critical of changes that will change the definition of prospective parents, the introduction of anonymous gamete donation and embryo freezing.

Sciberras also criticised the proposal to start a consultation process on altruistic surrogacy. She said surrogacy turned women into objects and ignored the importance of the bond that develops during pregnancy between the mother and the child.

The wider definition of parents would allow, among others, single women to make use of in-vitro fertilisation treatment. The changes also propose the introduction of anonymous sperm and egg donation.

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Canada, Surrogacy Law

Canada – Fertility Advisors Continues Advocacy With Third Day on Parliament Hill

Source Digital Journal

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it’s time for society to study the issue of decriminalizing payment for surrogate mothers and sperm or egg donors. (Radio-Canada)

“I think this is something we need to be thinking about as a society, and when we see the bill I know we will be having a discussion about rights and responsibilities that we share as a society,” Trudeau said. “And we will try to see how we can move forward in a reasonable manner.”

Trudeau was referencing a planned private member’s bill being put forward by Liberal MP Anthony Housefather. The bill, which Housefather plans to table in May, would decriminalize payments for surrogate moms and sperm or egg donors.

Canadians from every demographic and economic group could require a surrogate and/or gamete donor to build their family. Every Canadian should have the right and ability to have a family without fear of legal prosecution. This means that just to give one example, to even send flowers to a surrogate could expose intended parents (IPs) and agency staff to criminal liability and penalties. Expenses meant to cover costs directly related to the pregnancy are a grey area, and currently, any perceived breach could result in the conviction of an indictable offense with a fine of up to $500,000, a jail sentence of up to 10 years, or both.

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Canada, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law

Trudeau says it’s time for Canada to debate decriminalizing fees for surrogate moms

Source CBC

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it’s time for society to study the issue of decriminalizing payment for surrogate mothers and sperm or egg donors. (Radio-Canada)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it’s time for Canadian society to wrestle with the controversial issue of paying women to carry other people’s babies.

Calling paid surrogacy an “extremely important issue” that affects many prospective parents, including same-sex and infertile couples, Trudeau said today he expects the debate will draw extreme opinions and emotions.

The government, he said, wants to listen and show respect for all views to “move forward appropriately.”

“I think this is something we need to be thinking about as a society, and when we see the bill I know we will be having a discussion about rights and responsibilities that we share as a society,” he said. “And we will try to see how we can move forward in a reasonable manner.”

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India, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

India – Child rights panel wants adherence to norms on surrogacy

Source Business Standard

The Maharashtra Child Rights Commission has recommended strict implementation of the ICMR’s guidelines for those desiring to have a child through surrogacy.

It has asked the state government to set up a task force to monitor the implementation of guidelines and to tighten the supervision of hospitals facilitating delivery of children through surrogacy.
The Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has also asked people, including actors, desiring a child through surrogacy, surrogate mothers, egg/sperm donors to register themselves with clinics or hospitals, that in-turn have to be registered with an appropriate government authority.

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Canada, intended parents, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

Paying surrogates, sperm and egg donors goes against Canadian values

Source The Conversation

A Canadian politician has announced he plans to introduce a private member’s bill to remove the legal prohibitions on payments to surrogate mothers and to sperm and egg donors. (Shutterstock)

In Canada, it’s illegal to pay for the services of a surrogate mother or to purchase human gametes — sperm and eggs. These prohibitions are entrenched in the Assisted Human Reproduction Act. Some Liberal members of Parliament want to change this.

Anthony Housefather, MP for Mount Royal and chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, recently held a news conference to announce that he plans to introduce a private member’s bill to remove the legal prohibitions on payments.

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IVF, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

Oregon is fertile ground for surrogacy

Source: The Bulletin

New parents are often in awe over their first child, and that is certainly true for Andrew and Courtney Reeves.

The Bend couple marvels at how much their son, Jon, looks like his father. They are amazed at how well he behaves on trips and how he sleeps through most nights. They have already taken their 5-month-old baby on family vacations to Utah and Hawaii.
But Jon’s presence is more a miracle than his good behavior. He was born through surrogacy, an arrangement in which a woman agrees to become pregnant and gives birth to a child for a couple, who will be the child’s parents. The surrogate carries an embryo created in a laboratory using an egg and sperm from the child’s parents.

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compensation, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

Canada – Should surrogate mothers be paid for their labour?

Source. cbc.ca Radio

Under Canadian law, the act of carrying a baby as a surrogate is not illegal, but payment for it is. (Shutterstock)

Is it time that we recognize labour as… labour? Or is paying women to act as surrogates a slippery slope to exploitation?

Under Canadian law, being a surrogate is not illegal, but payment for the service of surrogacy is.

Stephanie Plante, who was a surrogate for a same-sex couple in Spain, thinks women should be trusted to make decisions about their bodies, and be compensated accordingly.

“If I’m a man and I decide to go to Afghanistan and put my body in harm’s way, I’m given a book tour,” says Plante, “and I am given a speaker circuit, and I’m given a pension.”

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Commercial Surrogacy, India, Parental rights, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

India – Surrogacy Regulation is Stuck Between Market, Family and State

Source The Wire

Through the years, India’s stand on surrogacy has varied from a medico-liberal to a carceral model, but the best safeguards for surrogates would be empowerment rather than relying on the market or the state for protection.

Surrogacy policy in India has varied from encouraging commercial surrogacy to allowing only altruistic surrogacy, a move that was condemned by a parliamentary standing committee Credit: Reuters

Law has long been the site of intense political, social and economic contest over women’s reproductive labour. Surrogacy is no exception. Over the past 15 years, numerous legislative drafts on surrogacy have been proposed, making India possibly the only country in the world to seriously consider all possible regulatory approaches to surrogacy ranging from a liberal, contract-based model in the late 1990s to a prohibitionist, carceral model in 2016.
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Canada, Gestational carrier agreements, intended parents, re-conception parentage agreement, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Parents

Impact of the All Families are Equal Act, 2016 for Surrogate Births

Source Lexology

The recent All Families Are Equal Act, 2016 (the “Act”) amends various existing pieces of legislation in connection with the goal of establishing new rules related to parentage (see the amendments here). For a general overview of the legislative changes brought about by the Act, please see our bulletin here.

Of importance to hospitals are the amendments to sections 9 to 11 of the Children’s Law Reform Act. Section 9 introduces the concept of a “pre-conception parentage agreement,” which allows potential parents to contractually define their parentage status. Sections 10 and 11 update Ontario laws to provide for surrogacy agreements, with a standard format allowing for up to four legal parents.

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Commercial Surrogacy, compensation, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, UK

UK – Government Advises Openness, Confidence, And Transparency (In Surrogacy)

Source Above The Law

The UK — not the US, sorry — has a very thoughtful and vocal stance on surrogacy.

Last month, the government issued thoughtful guidance on best practices for citizens considering entering into a surrogacy arrangement. Our government? No, no, sorry for any confusion. I am talking about the United Kingdom. The United States continues to maintain a patchwork of (mostly positive) surrogacy laws, or in many cases, no law at all. But the UK’s government, and more specifically, the Department of Health and Social Care, recently issued official guidance for intended parents and surrogates entering into surrogacy arrangements in England and Wales.

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Canada, Commercial Surrogacy, Gestational carrier agreements, intended parents, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

Paying a surrogate in Canada is illegal but one Liberal MP wants to change that

Source Global News

Paying a surrogate mother for her services is illegal in Canada but one Liberal MP wants to change that.

When most Canadians picture criminals, a couple trying to have a baby probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.

But under Canadian law, that’s exactly what couples who pay a surrogate to carry their child to term are deemed to be, and one Liberal MP wants to change that.

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Gay Parenting, Gestational carrier agreements, Same Sex, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, surrogate children, Surrogate Mother, UK

UK government launches surrogacy guidance for gay parents after Tom Daley baby news

Source PinkNews

Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black

The UK government has said it “supports surrogacy” for “LGBT+ parents wanting to create a family”, issuing guidance on the issue for the first time after British Olympic diver Tom Daley announced he is expecting a child via surrogate.

Daley and husband Dustin Lance Black announced earlier this month that they are expecting their first child together. Though they have not spoken about their route to parenthood, it is believed the pair are using a surrogate, whose identity has not been made public.

Following the news, this week the UK government for the first time published guidance on surrogacy for prospective parents.

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Gestational carrier agreements, intended parents, Psychological Evaluation, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law

Gestational carrier laws, hepatitis C testing and more in health care legislation Monday

Source The Press Of Atlantic City

Legislators Monday will have a busy day both in the Senate and Assembly as they vote on a number of bills, some health-related.

Laws on gestational carrier agreements, hepatitis C testing, dementia, the reopening of a psychiatric hospital, earned sick leave and opioid prescription warning stickers are at the top of the list on the health care front.

The Senate will vote on a bill that would allow gestational carrier agreements — where a woman agrees to carry and give birth to a child that is not genetically related to her — for an individual or couples seeking to expand their families.

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Parental rights, single parents, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law

UK – Surrogacy Laws Must Recognise Single Parents Says Joint Committee

Source Each Other

Surrogacy laws in the UK prevent single parents from obtaining a parental order, which means that they are not recognised in law as the parent of their biological child.

The government is correcting this injustice, but the Joint Committee on Human Rights says that the proposed changes still don’t comply with human rights law.

Publishing the report earlier this month, the committee looked at the Government’s proposed changes to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (2008). The key issues centred around the compatibility of the proposals with the right to private and family life provided for by the Human Rights Convention.

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Parental rights, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Parents

Court upholds surrogacy contracts as enforceable in Iowa

Source National Post

DES MOINES, Iowa — The birth mother of an 18-month-old girl, paid as a surrogate to have the baby, is not legally the child’s parent, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday in an emotional case that concluded surrogacy contracts can be enforced in Iowa.

The ruling means the girl remains with the Cedar Rapids couple, the only parents she has known since leaving the hospital after birth.

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Hong Kong, intended parents, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother, Surrogate Parents

Surrogacy in Hong Kong: all you need to know about the risks and legal ramifications involved

Source South China Morning Post

Hongkongers face strict rules surrounding surrogacy, which is only an option for married couples, and remains rare in the city because it falls into a legal grey area. We help you get to grips with the facts.

The controversial topic of surrogacy hit the headlines again recently with the story of a Japanese millionaire who has fathered 13 children through Thai surrogate mothers.

The 28-year-old businessman was granted sole parental rights to the children by the Juvenile Court in Bangkok, because the mothers had signed away all rights to them and DNA tests proved that he was the biological father of all the childre

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Commercial Surrogacy, compensation, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

Turning Women And Babies Into Merchandise

Source Sky Watch TV –

On March 12, the governor of Washington signed into law a bill amending the state’s Uniform Parentage Act. This act officially permits women to be paid for carrying someone else’s child—in other words, “surrogate motherhood.” Previously, the law only permitted women to be reimbursed for medical and other expenses associated with surrogacy. The amendment, in effect, legalizes commercial surrogacy. So women can now rent out their wombs in Washington State. Sponsors of the bill insisted that the goal of the legislation is to reduce the suffering of infertile couples. But its real-world result will be to further commodify human life and exploit desperate women.

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India, intended parents, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

Amended Surrogacy Bill to streamline effective regulation of surrogacy practices

Source NewsBharati

New Delhi, March 22: In order to have an effective regulation of surrogacy, prohibit commercial surrogacy and allow altruistic surrogacy to the needy Indian infertile couples, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for moving official amendments in the “Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016”.

The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 proposes to regulate surrogacy in India by establishing National Surrogacy Board at the central level and, State Surrogacy Boards and Appropriate Authorities in the States and Union Territories.

Once the Bill is enacted by the Parliament, the National Surrogacy Board will be constituted. The States and Union Territories shall constitute the State Surrogacy Board and State Appropriate Authorities within three months of the notification by the Central Government.

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Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law

Washington State Flips Its Anti-Surrogacy Stance

Source Above The Law

Washingtonians should pop the champagne bottles and celebrate — unless you are already trying to become pregnant as a surrogate.

In the last few years, several countries have either banned or severely limited access to surrogacy. These laws often come on the heels of some crazy surrogacy scandals, including the Japanese man with the 13 surro-babies, or the twin baby left behind in Thailand. Fortunately, the United States has gone the other direction. Last year, Washington, D.C. reversed its prior law that actually made surrogacy a criminal offense, and instead passed a comprehensive new statute that permits and provides safeguards around surrogacy arrangements. The statute permits both the more popular type, known as gestational surrogacy — that’s where the surrogate isn’t genetically related to the child being carried — as well as the less common form of surrogacy, now called “genetic” surrogacy — previously known as “traditional” surrogacy — where the surrogate is also genetically related to the child.

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Baby M, Gestational surrogacy, intended parents, Psychological Evaluation, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

Gestational Carrier Agreements Enforceable

Source: New Jersey Law Journal

embryo-centrifuge

The New Jersey Legislature is advancing a statute that would enable individuals to enter into enforceable agreements for surrogate parenthood via gestational carriers. The New Jersey Gestational Carrier Agreement Act (S-482, A-1704) awaits only final legislative approval and the signature of Gov. Phil Murphy to become law.

In gestational surrogacy, a woman agrees to be implanted with a fertilized egg that is not hers, and to carry the fetus to term. The fetus is conceived in vitro, using egg and sperm from donors who are unrelated to the woman. The act requires such agreements to be in writing; additionally, the carrier must be over age 21 and have already borne at least one child of her own; her spouse or partner must consent in writing, and the intended parents must provide financial and medical support to the woman throughout her pregnancy and delivery. All parties must also undergo psychological evaluation and be represented by independent counsel. The woman carrying the fetus must surrender custody of the baby to the intended parents immediately upon birth. The act specifies that during the pregnancy, the intended parents must initiate a proceeding for an order of parentage. After the birth, the state will issue a birth certificate listing only the intended parents as the legal parents. Records relating to the agreement will remain confidential, but the child may petition for access when he or she turns 18.

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