Surrogacy Contracts and Reproductive Rights

This assignment delves into the world of surrogacy, exploring the laws and ethics surrounding gestational surrogacy. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the contracts involved, the rights of surrogate mothers and intended parents, and the societal implications of this practice. The research draws on various case studies and academic sources to shed light on the complexities of surrogacy and its impact on individuals and society.

Are any problems in surrogate
UK law ?

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
RESEARCH QUESTION................................................................................................................1
Aim..............................................................................................................................................1
Objective.....................................................................................................................................1
Research Questions.....................................................................................................................1
BACKGROUND.............................................................................................................................1
KEY THEMES................................................................................................................................2
PRELIMINARY OUTLINE............................................................................................................4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Surrogacy is the process where a woman agrees to get pregnant for another persons'
child. Surrogacy is all about the method wherein two people as a couple who have health issues
in conceiving on their own child or when they do not wish to conceive, believes on the method
through which another woman bears their child in her womb and later gives it to the intended
parents. In this present research major focus is on ascertain the Rights of Surrogate mothers and
intended parents. In addition to this, obstacles to surrogacy in UK will also be determined in
detail. Other than this, the requirement of change in Uk law will be researched and mentioned in
brief.
RESEARCH QUESTION
Aim:
“To identify the different problems of surrogacy in law of United Kingdom”.
Objective
 To ascertain the Rights of Surrogate mothers and duty of intended parents.
 To determine the obstacles in surrogacy in UK.
 To understand the requirement of change in UK law
 To analyse the cost of surrogacy in the UK
Research Questions
Q.1 What are the rights of Surrogate mothers and duty of intended parents?
Q.2 Define the problems or obstacles to surrogacy in UK?
Q.3 What changes are required to be made in law of United Kingdom?
Q.4 What is the cost of surrogacy in United Kingdom?
BACKGROUND
There is a need to make change in the law of surrogacy in United Kingdom due to the
several problems faced by the mothers. This questions are taken so that legal problem of the law
can be understand and determined. Along with this, it is important to know that these research
questions will help in determining the different problems of surrogacy in law of United
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Kingdom1. In addition to this, every mother has some rights which is also been a major thing that
are known by them. So this is the reason behind taking this question so that rights of Surrogate
mothers and intended parents can be known and analysed. These problems are important in
knowing and determining to get the detail knowledge regarding the surrogacy law for mothers.
This question are chosen to get a detail knowledge of the law and changes required to be made in
the law of United Kingdom. So this research question will help on getting in depth knowledge
regarding the same. Other than this, this question are being formed so that major changes can be
determined regarding the issues faced by the parents and surrogate mother.
KEY THEMES
Theme 1: Rights of Surrogate mothers and duty of intended parents
As per Stasi (2015), Surrogacy is when a different woman gives the birth to the child for
the intended parents. The legal mother of the child is the one who will give birth to him/her. But
the parental responsibility will be transferred to the one whose baby is given birth by the mother.
So as per the law, surrogate mothers should be treated as the legal mother of the child. But as per
the law, No contract can be enforced between intended parents and surrogate mother. Under law,
it is illegal to pay the mother and any expenses paid will be treated as an illegal transfer of
money. The main purpose behind this research of this project is to get the understanding
regarding the rights of the women regarding the child and their birth. As per Shenfield (2016),
intended parents have the right to apply for the parenthood after a period of 6 weeks after the
child is born. But as per the law, parents should apply before the child gets of 6 months. It can be
said that parents should apply after the period of 6 weeks but before the period of 6 months after
the child gets born. Furthermore, this research has helped in knowing that right of mother is to
know that there child is safe. This right can not be taken from surrogate mother as she is the legal
mother of the child. But it is the duty of the surrogate mother to carry the child in the womb for
the entire period of nine months. Hence, on the other hand it is the right of the surrogate mother
to have the proper vitamins and ensure healthy diet by the intended parents. So it can be said that
intended parents should take care of the mother and her diet. As it is her right to be taken care
and along with this, the surrogate mother has the right to have legal advice before entering in to
1 Mackey, A. and Gass, S. M., 2015. Second language research: Methodology and
design. Routledge.
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the deal with the parents. Thus, it has also been determined that it is the right of the surrogate
mother to know about the risk that is involved in the process of surrogacy process.
As per Twine (2015), it is the duty of the intended parents to make payments and bear
the cost of miscarriage or abortion. After the agreement is made it is the duty of intended parents
to not violate the agreement and perform it in well manner. It will help the women who is giving
birth to other's child and for the same they should also assure that surrogate mother is getting all
the facilities and assurance out of the same.
Theme 2: problems or obstacles in surrogacy in UK
As per the Rudrappa and Collins (2015), the major problem in United Kingdom is that
there are very few surrogate mothers. It is due to the reason that they are paid very less for their
efforts and pain they bear for someone. It is against the law to make payments to the surrogate
mother. However, they can be paid for expenses that are incurred during the period and that too
must be reasonable. It means that lost wages, housekeeping services or clothing expenses etc. In
addition to this, the major problem in surrogacy in UK is that the indented parents are not given
the legal title of being the parents. Also, surrogate mother can keep the child till the intended
parents bring the court order and the same is very difficult for the parents as the surrogate mother
have the legal rights of being the mother of the child. Thus, it can be said that surrogate mother is
the legal mother of the child.
In addition to this, surrogate mothers should be between the age of 21 years to 37 years
old. This a major obstacle sometimes for intended parents to find a mother for their child within
the legal age criteria. Other than this, the major obstacle faced by the surrogate mother is that she
can not claim the child after baby gets the period of 6 months. In the eyes of law any contract
signed between the surrogate mother and intended parents is not legal (Lloyd, 2017 ). This is a
big obstacle for both of them as any amount fixed will not be considered as valid or legal under
the eyes of law. This has allowed the both the parties to not make any amount to be legal on
papers and hence, few are the womens who do not take the step to be the surrogacy mother due
to fewer payments. The major problem is for intended parents as they do not have the legal rights
on child as parents even though genetically they are the parents. This has helped in knowing that
while taking the legal rights from the court the major problems are being faced by the intended
parents.
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Case law: Andrew and Austin are civil partners who live together in the UK. They decide to go
through a Californian surrogacy agency to find their surrogate, Lucy, who is unmarried.
Austin’s sperm is used to fertilise a donor egg and the embryo is implanted into Lucy at an IVF
clinic in California. The treatment is successful and Lucy gives birth to a boy.
Now as per this real life case law, Lucy will be the legal mother of the baby even if
Andrew and Austin are named on the US birth certificate. But Austin will be considered as the
biological father due to the reason that Lucy is unmarried. In this case law, the intended parents
that is Andrew and Austin have asked for their parenthood. But this can be done before the
period of 6 months from the date the child is born.
In case the surrogate refuses to hand over the baby back to the intended parents than the
surrogate mother can not be forced to agree to a parental order being made. In this case study,
Andrew and Austin has made an agreement with Lucy for handling over the parenthood of the
child back to them. But in case is she refuses than that agreement made will not be considered as
a legal document. As per the law, it is illegal to form any contract between the Surrogate mother
and Intended parents.
Theme 3: Changes are required to be made in law of United Kingdom
As per the law of United Kingdom, there are certain rules which creates obstacles for
both the surrogate mother and indented parents. The certain changes that are required to be made
for carrying the process with more ease and comfort. As per the research it has been determined
that major changes are required to be made in parental order. A review is required to be made in
parental command criteria, so that it can be make sure that law is workable. This also need to
assure that it include all those children who are born through surgery. There should be changes
made in the law and it must be in written form so that there will be a valid reason for the same.
Other than this, as per Clarity that UK law permits surrogates to be compensated for
inconvenience as part of their expenses, reflecting reality and allowing this issue to get handled
with more frank behaviour where honesty is maintained along with transparency. As per
Muldrew (2016), it is illegal to advertise for the surrogacy process so it is tough for surrogacy
agencies to make the profits. So these laws must be changed and reformed to make more profits
out of the same. It has been determined that there must be made changes in the law regarding the
status of children. This will help in knowing the parents more fast and hence the long wait to
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come home will be ended soon. This is a big hindrance for both of them as any amount fixed
will not be considered as valid or legal under the eyes of law. This has allowed the both the
parties to not make any amount to be legal on papers and hence, few are the women who do not
take the step to be the surrogacy mother due to fewer payments. Thus, it will secure parenthood
and prompt recognition will be made by the same. This research has helped in knowing that
surrogacy agreements are unenforceable and that must be reformed for the betterment of parents.
This is a big obstacle for both of them as any amount fixed will not be considered as valid or
legal under the eyes of law.
Theme 4: Cost of surrogacy in UK
As per the research and in depth investigation it has been determined that all the expenses
related to pregnancy shall be born by intended parents. It is not legal as per the law to make any
payments to surrogate mother but reasonable expenses are required to be born by intended
parents. But As per the Hutchins (2015), parents should take care of all the expenses that can be
taken in to account for the purpose of this entire process. This is to ensure that expenses for
maternity majorly and clothing of the child shall be beard by intended parents. This research has
made determined that London Surrogacy are very expensive which cost or charge around $32000
USD. All the expenditure related to sperm and egg donation are included in this along with the
embryo transfers (Neal and et.al., 2017 ). Till the last delivery of baby expenses are also covered
under the same and that shall be born by intended parents. This will help in knowing that entire
cost shall be taken in the hand of parents. Even if they are not the legal parents of child and
surrogate mother has the legal rights on the child. The cost of food and proper diet during the
nine months shall also be taken care of by indented parents. Along with this, in case of abortion
choice by surrogate mother or miscarriage happens than its cost will be charged from intended
parents as per the law of the nation. As research has made determined that every cost related to
the child and surrogate mother during the nine months is the duty of intended parents. It is
against the law to deny to bear the expenses for the women who is giving birth to child of
another couple.
PRELIMINARY OUTLINE
Chapter 1: Research Question - In this majorly a detailed and brief introduction and overview
of the research along with the aim and objectives of research will be covered.
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Chapter 2: Background – In this the detail regarding the background of the question that are
chosen will be analysed and detailed the reason behind why the questions are being chosen.
Chapter 3: Key Themes - Various type of themes will be included within the use so that aims
could be achieved and conclusion from the same can be taken out.
Chapter 4: Preliminary outline- In this the detail regarding all the topics that has been
converted will be outlined in precise way.
Chapter 5: Research methodology- In this section the approach chosen for research and its
advantages and disadvantages will be covered in short.
Chapter 6: Conclusion and recommendation- This is the last section which includes the
conclusion and recommendation based on the findings so that results could be evaluated in most
effective manner.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is all about gathering information and collecting data for the
reason of making decisions regarding the topic for which research has been conducted2 . Data for
research can be conducted through various ways like surveys, interviews or existing information.
In this study, Inductive approach has been used to accomplish the aims and objectives. This
approach has been chosen because of the study and it helps in making qualitative research. This
approach focuses on collecting the data and exploring the given objectives in detail3 This
approach has been chosen as per the topic due to the detail study on Surrogacy law in Uk.
In addition to this, this approach also details about the entire nation and give detail
knowledge of the topic. This approach is used for self study and that is the major reason behind
using the same for this study. It also makes the learning easy due and along with that it check out
the patterns and different learnings by the same can be concluded. Whereas on the other hand
inductive approach has some drawbacks as well as it is very limited and it gets started with a
2 Mackey, A. and Gass, S. M., 2015. Second language research: Methodology and
design. Routledge.
3 Taylor, S. J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research
methods: A guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.
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specific situation (Lewis, 2015). This limit the study to an extent which is the biggest drawback
of this approach. If the researcher will have the sound reasoning but the conclusion is incorrect
than it ends up with drawing invalid conclusions.
CONCLUSION
From the above research it has been determined that in surrogacy parental responsibility
will be transferred to the one whose baby is given birth by the mother. But as per the law
surrogate mothers should be treated as the legal mother of the child. In addition to this, it is the
right of the surrogate mother to get the reasonable expenses for carrying the child in the womb
and other expenses related to proper vitamins and ensure healthy diet by the intended parents.
Other than this, It has also been determined that there must be made changes in the law regarding
the status of children.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Hutchins, F.G., 2015. The illusion of permanence: British imperialism in India. Princeton
University Press.
Lewis, S., 2015. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches.
Health promotion practice. 16(4). pp.473-475.
Lloyd, I., 2017. Information technology law. Oxford University Press.
Mackey, A. and Gass, S. M., 2015. Second language research: Methodology and design.
Routledge.
Muldrew, C., 2016. The economy of obligation: the culture of credit and social relations in early
modern England. Springer.
Neal, B. and et.al., 2017. Canagliflozin and cardiovascular and renal events in type 2 diabetes.
New England Journal of Medicine. 377(7). pp.644-657.
Purshouse, C. and Bracegirdle, K., 2018. The Problem of Unenforceable Surrogacy Contracts:
Can Unjust Enrichment Provide a Solution?. Medical law review.
Rudrappa, S. and Collins, C., 2015. Altruistic agencies and compassionate consumers: Moral
framing of transnational surrogacy. Gender & Society. 29(6). pp.937-959.
Shenfield, F., 2016. Crossing borders for gametes donation and surrogacy: a legal puzzle?.
Culture and Research. 5. pp.291-302.
Söderström-Anttila, V. and et.al., 2016. Surrogacy: outcomes for surrogate mothers, children and
the resulting families—a systematic review. Human reproduction update. 22(2). pp.260-
276.
Stasi, A., 2015. Maternal surrogacy and reproductive tourism in UK: a call for legal
enforcement. Ubon Ratchathani law journal. 8(16). pp.17-36.
Taylor, S. J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research methods:
A guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.
Twine, F.W., 2015. Outsourcing the womb: Race, class and gestational surrogacy in a global
market. Routledge.
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Appendix
1. Purshouse, C. and Bracegirdle, K., 2018. The Problem of Unenforceable Surrogacy
Contracts: Can Unjust Enrichment Provide a Solution?. Medical law review.
This research has helped in knowing that if surrogate mother wishes to keep the child
than intended parents can not claim to give the baby back to them. They even can not ask for the
money back which has been paid to the surrogate mother. But on the other side, it is unfair with
the intended parents as they left with nothing. So such unenforceable contracts should be fairly
balanced and along with this child welfare will be conducted fairly.
2. Rudrappa, S. and Collins, C., 2015. Altruistic agencies and compassionate consumers:
Moral framing of transnational surrogacy. Gender & Society. 29(6). pp.937-959.
This study has helped in learning of emergent case regarding the commercial surgery.
There are two major learnings regarding surrogacy liberates and their reproductive rights. This
study has also made learnt that we find that surrogate mothers did not experience significant
changes in economic status after surrogacy.
3. Twine, F.W., 2015. Outsourcing the womb: Race, class and gestational surrogacy in a
global market. Routledge.
This case study has helped in gaining the knowledge regarding race and gestational
surrogacy in the market. On the other hand, it has many other disadvantages as well which are
also determined regarding justice for the surrogate mother and intended parents.
4. Lewis, S., 2015. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five
approaches. Health promotion practice. 16(4). pp.473-475.
This case law has helped in determining that it is the right of the surrogate mother to have
the proper vitamins and ensure healthy diet by the intended parents. Whereas, the case law also
said that indented parents lefts with nothing if Surrogate chose to keep the child with her.
5. Söderström-Anttila, V. and et.al., 2016. Surrogacy: outcomes for surrogate mothers,
children and the resulting families—a systematic review. Human reproduction update.
22(2). pp.260-276.
This case law has made realised that the law should give more advantages to the surrogate
mother and the moral of children should not be affected. But on other hand, the major
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disagreements from this learning intended parents also have the rights as they are not been
considered with any major advantages.
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