Tag: surrogacy law

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

Paying surrogates, sperm and egg donors goes against Canadian values

Intended Parents

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.

Read more

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

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

Intended Parents

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.
Read more

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

Intended Parents

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.

Read more

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

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

Intended Parents

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.

Read more

Parental rights, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Parents

Court upholds surrogacy contracts as enforceable in Iowa

Intended Parents

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.

Read more

India, intended parents, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

Amended Surrogacy Bill to streamline effective regulation of surrogacy practices

Intended Parents

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.

Read more

Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law

Washington State Flips Its Anti-Surrogacy Stance

Intended Parents

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.

Read more

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

Gestational Carrier Agreements Enforceable

Intended Parents

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.

Read more

Gestational carrier agreements, Gestational surrogacy, Infertility, intended parents, Parental rights, Singapore, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, surrogate children, Surrogate Mother

6 Legal Issues Singaporean Couples Should Consider Before Hiring a Surrogate

Intended Parents

Source: Yahoo Finance

According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), surrogacy refers to the arrangement where “a woman is artificially impregnated, whether for monetary compensation or not, with the intention that the child is to be the social child of some other person or couple”.

Commercial surrogacy often involves a fee paid to the surrogate mother. By hiring a surrogate mother, you are essentially hiring a woman to carry and deliver a child for you.

Read more

intended parents, Parental rights, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, UK

UK – Surrogacy abroad: how to get started

Intended Parents

Source: Lexology

With more people facing fertility issues and couples increasingly seeking alternative routes to have children, there is a growing number of UK families created through surrogacy.

In the last three years, the number of children being born through surrogacy has almost tripled according to figures from the Ministry of Justice Family Court.

Surrogacy is no longer a taboo – along with adoption it has become an accepted alternative to traditional child birth. It has even recently featured in the Archers on Radio 4 and has been put into the headlines by Kim Kardashian and Kanye West who have recently used a surrogate to have their baby, Chicago.

Read more

Gay Parenting, intended parents, Law, Parental rights, Same Sex, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

New Uniform Parentage Act Becomes Law in Washington State

Intended Parents

Source: The Humanist

Earlier this week, Governor Jay Inslee of Washington signed into law an updated version of the state’s Uniform Parentage Act. Written to safeguard the rights of LGBTQ and non-biological parents, the new law defines a “de facto” parent as well as allows compensation beyond medical and other expenses for surrogate mothers.

According to the law’s sponsor, state Senator Jamie Pedersen, who has four children with his husband conceived through surrogacy, the bill will help parents who want to have a child through surrogacy at home in Washington State, rather than leaving the state. (Pedersen and his husband had their children in California where compensated surrogacy is already allowed.)

Read more

intended parents, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

Surrogacy laws in Western Australia set to change

Intended Parents

Source: 9 News

It’s the ultimate gift – bringing a baby into the world through surrogacy. 

However, in Western Australia, only 10 babies have been born through a surrogate in the last decade because the state’s laws are so tough. 

The process often takes up to a year and costs roughly $80,000. 

That makes Robina and her husband Ryan’s one year old son, Raphael, a rare baby. 

Read more

Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother, UK

UK – Lawyers attack new surrogacy bill

Intended Parents

Source: The Sunday Times

Sam Everingham, right, with his partner Phil Copland and their two surrogate daughters

Surrogacy support groups and family lawyers have criticised the government’s planned new laws on surrogacy, which they say will force 80 couples a year to go abroad to have children.

The government’s deadline for submissions on the planned Assisted Human Reproduction Bill, which will set up a new regulatory regime for surrogacy and other forms of assisted reproduction, closed last week.

Read more

Australia, Embryo, Gestational surrogacy, Infertility, intended parents, IVF, Surrogacy, Surrogate Mother

Australia – Surrogacy success for Hunter family with new baby after years of heartache, IVF, and two surrogates.

Intended Parents

Source: Newcastle Herald

Priceless: Kristy and Craig Darken with baby Henry, born via a surrogate. Kristy described the process as akin to having all of the ingredients to make a cake, but baking it in someone else’s oven. Picture: Kelsey Mlekus Photography

BY the time Kristy and Craig Darken found out they were going to be parents, they had almost given up all hope of holding a child of their own in their arms.

It had been close to eight years of highs and lows, of hope and of devastation, as the Elermore Vale couple trod the testing track of having a baby via a surrogate.

But then, countless counselling sessions, IVF, two surrogates and 10 embryos later, a tearful late night phone call came from Kristy’s sister, Rebecca.

“She was crying her eyes out,” Kristy said.

“I thought she was crying because she knew it was our last try. I thought she was devastated. Then finally, she said, ‘I’m pregnant. It worked’.

Read more

Employee Benefits, India, intended parents, Law, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

Tribunal grants maternity leave to govt. servant who begot children through surrogacy

Intended Parents

Source: The Hindu

Soibam Rocky Singh

The Central Administrative Tribunal has come to the aid of a woman, working in the Ministry of Law & Justice, who was denied maternity leave as she had begotten her children through surrogacy.

The Tribunal directed the Ministry to sanction 180 days of maternity leave to the woman citing three high court’s verdicts which have held that the commissioning mother is also entitled for grant of maternity leave.

The woman is working as a Personal Assistant in the Legislative Department, Official Language Wing of Ministry of Law & Justice. As she was unable to conceive due to medical issues, she entered into Gestational Surrogacy Agreement with another woman.

Read more

intended parents, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

Republican lawmakers enraged by passage of ‘The Uniform Parenting Act’

Intended Parents

Source: Clark County Today

Senate Bill 6037 allows for paid surrogacy in the state of Washington

Sometimes I have the pleasure of telling you a story and sometimes the story just tells itself.

It’s safe to say a number of area lawmakers have had some tough days during the current legislative session in Olympia but the past 24 hours just might have been the toughest for Reps. Liz Pike (R — 18th District) and Vicki Kraft (R — 17th District) and others.

Pike, Kraft and their fellow lawmakers were on the floor of the house until after midnight in the a.m. hours of Wednesday. I spoke with Kraft by telephone this morning and I believe she told me that she was still testifying on the floor of the House of Representatives after midnight.

Read more

intended parents, Ireland, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

Ireland – Fertility expert: Surrogacy plans too restrictive

Intended Parents

Source: Irish Examiner

A fertility expert has warned that plans to permit surrogacy in Ireland are too restrictive and that people would continue to seek surrogacy abroad even though it remains a grey area.

Consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Mary Wingfield said the legal situation of those who employed surrogate mothers abroad should have been addressed in the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill.

Prof Wingfield was one of three fertility experts to discuss the proposed legislation at a meeting of the joint committee on health yesterday.

Read more

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

Tell children created through surrogacy how they were born, says first-ever Government guidance

Intended Parents

Source: The Telegraph

Parents are also warned not to enter into informal surrogacy arrangements but to use a surrogacy organisation to arrange the process, and advised not to go abroad but to use licensed clinics in the UK. CREDIT: DAVID JONES /PA

Children created through surrogacy should be told how they were born, the Government has said for the first time.

The first-ever official guidance for surrogacy arrangements says that “openness, confidence and transparency about a child’s origins from an early age (pre-school) is the best way to talk to children about their identity and origins”.

Parents are also warned not to enter into informal surrogacy arrangements but to use a surrogacy organisation to arrange the process, and advised not to go abroad but to use licensed clinics in the UK.

Read more

intended parents, Ireland, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

Ireland – Call for legislation to treat surrogate mothers equally

Intended Parents

Source: Connacht Tribune

A Galway City councillor has called on the Health Minister to consider introducing legislation giving surrogate mothers maternity leave so they are not treated any differently from natural or adoptive parents.

Fine Gael Cllr Padraig Conneely said he is aware of several couples in Galway who have become parents through a surrogacy arrangement abroad.

Surrogacy is a way for a childless couple or individual to have a child, with a surrogate mother carrying the child. The surrogate mother agrees to be artificially inseminated or to have an embryo transferred to her womb in order to become pregnant. She then carries the child to term with the intention of giving custody of the child to the “commissioning” person or couple.

Read more

compensation, New Zealand, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

New Zealand – Calls for surrogates to be compensated – as Toni Street announces baby news

Intended Parents

Source:  NZ Herald

A leading surrogacy lawyer and doctor have called for a law change to allow compensation to be paid to women who bear a baby for someone else.

Broadcaster Toni Street last night went public on how she and her husband Matt France’s third child is being carried by a surrogate – Street’s best friend Sophie Braggins.

The couple turned to a surrogate after Street was diagnosed with a rare and incurable auto-immune condition shortly after she gave birth to Mackenzie in mid-2015.

Zandra Wackenier, who has represented surrogate mothers and “intending parents” in dozens of applications to authorities, says she supports a continuation of commercial surrogacy in New Zealand, but she also believes surrogates should be compensated for their out-of-pocket expenses.

Read more: