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Core 3: Parenting and caring

Becoming parents and carers

Surrogacy and the law

Surrogacy refers to a situation in which one woman has a child on behalf of another woman or couple. The child may be conceived by sexual intercourse or by artificial insemination and be carried by a surrogate or substitute mother.

There are various legal and social implications for this form of parenting.

Read the following case study and complete the related questions in the student activity.

Peter and Marie have been married for 10 years. Peter is happy in his career as an engineer and Marie has worked in sales for 5 years. They have been trying for a child unsuccessfully for 4 years and have tried all avenues for assisted pregnancy. Their doctor has said that their chance of having a child is very low. They feel that their family is not complete without a child and have been investigating other ways to complete their family.

Marie’s sister Rita suggested that they should try surrogacy. Rita is willing to be the surrogate mother and to have the baby for Marie and Peter. The baby will be conceived by artificial insemination, using Peter’s sperm and Rita’s egg. Rita has three children of her own. Rita’s children and her husband Ben have no concerns about her going through with this procedure in order to help Marie and Peter have a family.

Peter and Marie will pay for Rita’s medical bills and will support her emotionally during her pregnancy.

Student activity

Complete the each of the parts of this question. The link provided may help you to develop answers about surrogacy laws in NSW.

Outline the laws or acts specific to regulating surrogacy arrangements in NSW.
Describe two acts which are relevant to the case study on Peter and Marie.
Interpret the acts related to surrogacy and provide answers to the following issues:
- rights of the biological father
- birth certificates and persons named as the mother and father
- becoming the legal parents of a surrogate child.

Check your answers.

Discuss arguments for and against surrogacy. When developing your arguments, consider the viewpoints that might be expressed by different groups within society. Sample groups are listed below. One example of each argument has been provided in the table below.

Sample groups from within the community:

A childless couple.
A homosexual couple.
A blended family.
A surrogate family.
A religious group.
A single person.

Example arguments

Arguments FOR surrogacy
A childless couple is unable to conceive through other techniques of artificial conception such as IVF. Usually surrogacy is seen as the final resort of an infertile couple. This argument may be used by couples who are infertile for medical reasons such as cases where the female has tubal disease or the male has defects in sperm. May also be used by blended families, where one partner is infertile e.g. when the male has had a vasectomy several years previously.

Arguments AGAINST surrogacy
Surrogacy is unacceptable for couples who opt to use it for non-medical reasons, e.g. if they are afraid of the birthing process if they do not accept body changes that are apparent with pregnancy or if they are inconvenienced in their career aspirations because of the time required off work to deliver a child.

Analysing the information contained in the following links may assist you to develop arguments for and against surrogacy:

Surrogacy today: Reasons, methodology and procedure
Discussion Paper 18 (1988)- Artificial Conception: Surrogate Motherhood: Surrogacy Today
The debate
Report 60 (1988) Artificial Conception: Surrogate Motherhood: The Debate

Check your answers.

Click here for a worksheet on which you may develop your arguments.

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