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Surrogacy refers to an arrangement whereby a woman agrees to become pregnant for the purpose of gestating and giving birth to a child for others to raise. She may be the child's genetic mother or not, depending on the type of arrangement agreed to.
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A surrogate mother is a woman who carries a child for a couple or single person with the intention of giving that child to that person/people once the being is born (also called surrogate pregnancy). The surrogate mother may be the baby's biological mother (traditional surrogacy) or she may be implanted with someone else's fertilized egg (gestational surrogacy).
Legal issues
Such an arrangement requires legal intervention, as the laws regarding assisted reproduction differ from state to state and country to country. It is important that each party in such arrangements has a clear understanding of the risks involved with such arrangements. |
The most famous case of surrogacy was the Baby M case, in which the surrogate mother refused to surrender the child she had born in 1986 to the child's biological father. In 1988, a family court in New Jersey awarded custody to the biological father and visitation rights to the surrogate mother.
Maternal | Pregnancy | Childbirth | Lamaze | Infant Caring | Breastfeeding | Surrogate Mother |
Compensation
Contracted motherhood agreements can be divided into two categories: commercial and non-commercial, or “altruistic.” Commercial contracted motherhood arrangements are those in which the party seeking a child agree to pay a fee to the surrogate beyond the cost of her medical needs. In contrast non-commercial or “altruistic” contracted motherhood arrangements are those where the surrogate agrees to receive no payment or reward, although it is rare that a total non-commercial agreement is ever made as it is expected that the commissioning party will pay the pregnant woman’s medical bills. Altrustic agreements are often between parties who are family or friends prior to the arrangement.
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