A traditional surrogate was a woman whose own egg is artificially inseminated by a man’s sperm. She carries and births the baby, giving it to the parents to keep and raise.
Most of today’s surrogate babies (about 750 a year) are the product of gestational surrogacy. Where the embryo from the biological parents is artificially implanted in a surrogate uterus; where it is carried and delivered to be raised by the parents. In a case of gestational surrogacy, the surrogate has no biological relation to the baby.
There are many reasons why a couple would choose to use a surrogate as an option:
- Uterine problems
- Genetic disease
- Infertility
- age
- Medical conditions that make pregnancy dangerous
Compensation paid to a surrogate averages $20,000 to $27,000. Costs increase if an egg or sperm donor is needed. This amount doesn’t cover the medical costs, such as in vitro fertilization treatments, the Northeast Assisted Fertility Group (NAFG) suggests prospective parents will need $100,000 to $120,000 for a child. For many, the costs of surrogacy can be prohibitive.
One of the first known traditional surrogacies in America resulted in the surrogate (the baby’s biological mother) deciding that she wanted to keep the child and not give up her parental rights to the baby’s adoptive mother. The parents sued for the child, and though the court had the birth contract nullified, the family court system gave custody of the baby to the biological father and his wife, giving the surrogate (biological) mother visitation rights.
There are legal and ethical questions to consider;
- Who is a mother? Can ‘mother’ even be defined by law?
- What if the ‘parents’ ask for the abortion of a fetus with disabilities and the surrogate refuses? Who is going to force her to abort the child?
- What if the traditional surrogate sues for visitation rights?
- Could a traditional surrogate’s financial straits be forcing her to ‘sell’ her baby she would have otherwise kept as her own?