Surrogate pregnancies involve the mother carrying the child with the intention to relinquish it at birth. Whether the surrogate mother is carrying the child for family or strangers, the child legally becomes someone else's after delivery. Because of the confusion between who the parents actually are, surrogacy laws help decide the baby's guardians when there is a disagreement.
History
Until 2002, there were few laws regarding surrogacy. However, with increased demand for surrogate services, states are passing and enforcing more laws relating to surrogacy.
Function
Surrogacy provides couples who cannot have a baby themselves the ability to have offspring that is at least partially genetically theirs. Most surrogate relationships begin through an agency who matches surrogates to prospective parents. Surrogacy laws provide legal guidelines pertaining to surrogacy and the rights to the child.
Types
There are a few different types of laws regarding surrogacy. For instance, in some states, surrogacy law prohibits surrogacy for unmarried couples. Other states simply prohibit surrogacy of any kind. Surrogacy with compensation is illegal in some states.
Considerations
Because surrogacy laws vary from state to state, and because of their loose wording, getting a lawyer is absolutely necessary. In all cases of surrogacy, the prospective parents pay all medical costs during pregnancy for the surrogate, and in many cases living expenses, also. Surrogacy is not a cheap option, since medical costs during pregnancy are high. Add legal costs to these, and it becomes a very large number.
Misconceptions
Most surrogate mothers have no problems giving up the child at the end of the pregnancy. They consider themselves carriers of the young life, but not the mother. There are cases of the surrogate changing her mind, but it is not common.
Benefits
Surrogacy laws provide guidelines to those wanting to use surrogacy regarding the legality and enforceability of the surrogacy and guardianship. The laws ensure protection of the rights of the surrogate mother and the prospective parents.
Warning
In most cases, the surrogacy laws favor the surrogate mother's rights as opposed to the prospective parents' rights. This is due to the fact that legally a child's mother is the woman who gave birth to them. While it's not a common occurrence, it does happen that the surrogate mother changes her mind. In that case, if the egg or sperm came from the prospective parents, it does have an effect on the legal guardianship of the child. In these cases, it is a court issue, and a judge decides where the child ends up.
Tags: prospective parents, surrogate mother, carrying child, cases surrogacy, costs during, costs during pregnancy