The Prevalent Issues Of Surrogate Parenting
The Prevalent Issues of Surrogate Parenting
Surrogate parenting refers to an arrangement between a married couple
who is unable to have a child because of the wife's infertility and a fertile
woman who agrees to conceive the husband's child through artificial insemination,
carry it to term, then surrender all parental rights in the child. Often, the
surrogate mother receives compensation for her services. The final step in the
process is typically the father's acknowledgment of paternity and adoption, with
his wife, of the child. Through surrogate motherhood, a couple desiring a child
need not wait an indefinite number of years for an adoptable baby, as generally
happens at the present time. The married couple obtains a child who is the
husband's biological offspring- a child for whose existence both husband and
wife can feel responsible.
Surrogate parenting is highly controversial by its very nature.
Nevertheless, surrogate parenting is attracting wide spread attention as a
viable alternative for infertile couples intent on having a child. Contract
surrogacy is officially little more than ten years old, although surrogate
mothering is a practice that has been known since biblical times. In 1986 alone
500 babies had been born to mothers who gave them up to sperm donor fathers for
a fee, and the practice is growing rapidly.
For this reason there are many questions and doubts that arise from this
subject. Often there are many legal difficulties that come about with surrogate
parenting. In some states the contracts that insure the infertile couple the
baby of the surrogate mother mean nothing. This, in turn, can cause huge
problems if the surrogate mother were to change her mind about giving up her
child. Who has the rights to the child in this awful situation? Surrogate
parenting is a...
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