Source: The Witachee Times
SPOKANE —Surrogate mothers could be paid for carrying a child for another couple under a bill that passed the Senate despite criticism that it could turn babies into “commodities like a bushel of wheat or widgets.”
A Georgia sperm bank, a troubled donor, and the secretive business of babymaking
Source: Atlanta Magazine
When customers of Xytex uncovered the truth about one of its sperm donors, the disclosure set off more than a dozen lawsuits—exposing an industry that can shatter lives while helping to create them
In first grade, when John drew a picture of his family, there was no dad because he knew his biological father was a sperm donor. His two mothers had always been open about that. In the drawing, his birth mother, Wendy Norman, bounces on a trampoline. Janet Norman, his other mom, grades papers inside. His older brother, Kevin, plays video games. John stands alone at the top of the stairs. About a year later, he would threaten to throw himself down them.
Ukraine Has Unintentionally Become A Hotbed For Surrogacy Tourism
Source: Grazia
© Shutterstock
Finding a surrogate in the UK can be a difficult pursuit, with laws around surrogacy giving the majority of rights to the surrogate. Legal contracts cannot be enforced, and surrogates cannot be paid except for reasonable expenses, which means that upon having the baby the surrogate has full maternal rights to the child even if she has no biological connection to it. With surrogacy legislation so complicated in the UK, many couples choose to go abroad to look for a surrogate.
While surrogacy tourism has been banned in India, Nepal and Thailand – former hotspots for the industry – amidst exploitation claims, other countries have slowly popped up to take their place. One surprising example is Ukraine, where a series of liberal laws has unintentionally created a thriving surrogacy industry.
Made In Chicago: The Life Foundation
Source: CBS Chicago
Tracy and John Papach with Jennifer Hirshfeld-Cytron. (Photo: Lisa Fielding/WBBM)
CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Tracy and John Papach of Evergreen Park have been married for 10 years. They’ve spent nine of them trying to have a child.
“Nothing was working for us,” Tracy recalled.
After several rounds of failed intrauterine insemination and in vitro fertilization (IVF), they’ve already spent upwards of $25,000, and without health insurance, it’s been out of pocket.
India – Surrogacy and Adoption: An insight
Source: Times of India
Every couple hopes to hear their child giggling in the house, but sometimes their dream seems to slowly fade to a point that it starts to feel far-fetched. Science is offering many Assisted Reproductive Techniques but seldom medical issues with the couple obstruct the way, even after options like IVF, IUI, and ICSI etc. When these techniques fail, a couple has two final options left: Adoption and Surrogacy.
The Ethics of a Surrogate Mother: What is Surrogacy’s Social Responsibility?
Source: Buffalow Business First
The Ethics of a Surrogate Mother: What is Surrogacy’s Social Responsibility? Gestational Surrogates earn more than most new teachers in the US — so why call them victims? William Houghton, director of Sensible Surrogacy, presents the pro-surrogacy perspective in a new interview.
SB126: Bill to limit surrogate births stalls in committee
Source: The Daily Universe
SALT LAKE CITY — Lawmakers appeared to be swayed by Utah families — many with babes in arms — who urged lawmakers to reject changes to Utah’s surrogate birth laws. SB126, which would repeal protections and requirements for surrogate births in Utah, was stalled in committee on Feb. 7 The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, sponsored legislation passed in 2005 making surrogate birth legal in Utah under certain conditions. Hillyard is sponsoring SB126 to repeal specifications and protections for surrogate births.
Surrogacy convention – let’s not forget human rights are for all
Source: Euractiv
Sophia Kuby is the director of EU advocacy at ADF International.
Surrogacy agencies, clinics, lawyers, and medical doctors cash in on the business of selling sperm and egg cells, creating embryos in vitro, implanting them into a woman’s hired womb and providing the “commissioning parents” with a baby.
The Hague Conference on Private International Law, an intergovernmental institution comprising 82 members, including all EU member states and the EU itself, has stepped into the ethical and legal quagmire created by this business.
UK – Single-mum gave birth to IVF baby conceived with sperm of a dead donor
Source: Daily Record
She will never know her dad but little Haileigh Fleming has brought incredible joy to her mum. The four-month-old is Kellie-Ann’s miracle, conceived through IVF with sperm from a dead donor. The teacher, who took out a bank loan to pay for the treatment, has no regrets after failing to find a partner. She said: “Haileigh has got a huge personality and it is as if she already knows just how special she is. “I turned 40 just before I had her so Haileigh is the best present I could have wished for. She is my wee star, my tiny miracle and my greatest achievement.
Cancer patient outraged to discover he can only donate sperm to female partner (Video)
Source: Stuff NZ
A gay man suffering severe pain from cancer was mortified to discover he was only able to donate sperm to a female partner.
Logan Morton, 22, received the shock diagnosis he had acute myeloid leukemia in April last year, and after being warned the treatment could make him infertile, arranged to store healthy sperm through Fertility Associates.
Severely debilitated from the cancer, Morton asked a nurse to fill out the paperwork, and noticed afterwards that he was only given the option of donating his sperm to a female partner.
Gay couples find path to parenthood at Greenwich Hospital
Source: Greenwich Time
GREENWICH — When Wear Culvahouse, a Greenwich obstetrician-gynecologist, delivered a baby for the first male same-sex parents at Greenwich Hospital in 2004, he saw doors opening for himself as well.
The team assembled to to help the male couple included personnel from labor and delivery, the nursery and administration. They set up two rooms at Greenwich Hospital: One for the new fathers to learn how to bathe, feed and change their baby, and one for their surrogate to recover.
Senator aims to repeal legal protections for surrogate births
Source: St George News
With the issue now before the Utah Supreme Court of whether or not gay men should have the right to the same legal protections in surrogate birth arrangements as others have under Utah law, one senator wants to end those protections, at least for now, for all couples in order to keep a promise he made 13 years ago.
Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, is seeking to pass a bill that would end legal protections for surrogate births | Profile photo via senate.utah.gov, St. George News Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, is sponsoring a bill, designated SB 126, that would repeal Utah law on gestational agreements, law that came from a bill he sponsored in 2005.
A dad’s discovery: Raising a child is thankless work
Source: The Globe and Mail
A year ago, after their surrogate’s labour through the night, Globe business reporter Tim Kiladze, left, and his husband, Matt, finally got to meet their daughter Eva. Tim took 10 months of parental leave to care for the baby .
I tried my very best to be calm, convincing myself that everything before this, all the agony and the ecstasy in my life, had been preparation for this moment.
Ireland – Woman speaks of frustration as wife cannot be named on son’s birth cert
Source: RTE
A woman has spoken of her frustration at not being allowed to name her wife as a co-parent on their son’s birth certificate, despite legislation being in place for two years to enable same-sex parents to be named on such documents.
Sarah Stone-McDevitt told RTÉ’s Today with Sean O’Rourke that her three month-old child Lochlann’s rights have been infringed by the fact that she could only put her name on the birth certificate and not her wife Ger’s name too.
India – Fertility preservation methods offer hope for cancer patients
Source: Deccan Chronicle
New Delhi: Many cancer treatments affect the ability to become pregnant, temporarily or permanently.
Fertility preservation (FP) is an effort to retain the fertility of cancer patients, thereby improving their quality of life.
UK – If you are thinking about having children through surrogacy, you should go to this event
Source: Pink News
Surrogacy is becoming an increasingly popular way for couples to have children, but the process varies around the world and where to start can be a challenge for some parents.
Well look no further – this event has all the information you need to get started on the process of starting your family with surrogacy.
In reality, surrogacy is as old as the Bible, but despite its rich history, parents-to-be and surrogates are both in need of a lot of support from the beginning of their journey.
Surrogate mothers could be paid more than their expenses under Senate bill
Source: The Spokesman-Review
Surrogate mothers could be paid for carrying a child for another couple under a bill that passed the Senate despite criticism that it could turn babies into “commodities like a bushel of wheat or widgets.”
Washington law currently allows women to act as surrogate mothers, but not to receive compensation above the cost of medical and other expenses. A proposed change to the Uniform Parentage Act, which covers a wide range of issues involving parental rights and responsibilities, would allow a surrogate to be paid more than that by the couple who have arranged for her to carry a baby for them.
Fertility benefits becoming hot retention tool for employers
Source: EBN
A roughly 10% spike in employer-offered fertility benefits is expected in the next two years as more companies evaluate and prioritize family-friendly benefits in an effort to attract and retain top talent.
New research out by Willis Towers Watson reveals the percentage of employers offering fertility benefits to employees is expected to grow from 55% in 2017 to 66% by 2019. And, of employers already offering financial assistance, 81% said the benefits would apply to same-sex couples next year, compared with 65% in 2017.
Tribune Editorial: The Legislature should leave the surrogacy law alone
Source: The Salt Lake Tribune
Surprisingly, maddeningly, the Utah Legislature is still fighting gay marriage.
At least one legislator is. Sen. Lyle Hillyard introduced a bill Wednesday to repeal a 2005 law that allowed Utah couples to have children through surrogacy. Hillyard was the sponsor of the 2005 law.
Dozens of Utahns shared their surrogacy stories and asked a legislative committee to block the bill. Lisa Candie Barlow told the committee she is currently 14 weeks pregnant as a surrogate for her brother and her brother’s wife.
UK – Mothers’ campaign for change to surrogacy laws
Source ITV
A woman from Rotherham who has been a surrogate mother twice – is calling for urgent changes to what they believe to be outdated surrogacy law.
When Kate became pregnant she always intended to give the child to its parents, Tracy and Pete from Portsmouth.
But, under UK law she could have changed her mind at any point and kept the baby as her own, because she gave birth to the child