CHAPTER 2: THE SURROGATE CONTRACT: AN ANALYSIS
"Science has made us gods before we are even worthy of being men." The wonders of modern science have stretched the limits of man and imagination while creating legal and ethical dilemmas that society is ill-prepared to resolve. The reason for these quandaries are arguably attributed to the nature of the legal system - a legal system that seeks to draw its answers to modern problems from ancient rules and regulations) formulated at a time when extraordinary scientific developments could not have been anticipated.
The last two decades have seen rapid advancements in the field of artificial reproductive technologies ART. These procedures have already helped a significant number of infertile couples …show more content…
Both use the technology of in vitro fertilization, which became available in 1978. Partial surrogacy was the first of the two procedures to be medically possible: it involves the implantation of the surrogate with the sperm of the biological father, but uses the surrogate mother's eggs to form the pregnancy. This earlier type of surrogacy, because it used the surrogate's eggs, created the biological a connection which made it relatively easy for courts to determine that the birth mother was also the legal mother. Full surrogacy, also called gestational surrogacy, by contrast to partial surrogacy, occurs when a surrogate is implanted with the sperm of the biological father and the eggs of the biological mother; i.e., eliminating any biological relationship between the surrogate mother and the child. This variant on surrogacy eliminated the birth mother/genetic mother equation, and led to litigation disputing the child's parentage. Full surrogacy, although more expensive, is treated more favorably in some jurisdictions, leading many fertility clinics to offer it as the standard form. On the other hand, some urge that surrogacy contracts be treated like other contracts, with deference to the intent of the parties, and argue that they offer the opportunity for gender-neutral parentage
"Science has made us gods before we are even worthy of being men." The wonders of modern science have stretched the limits of man and imagination while creating legal and ethical dilemmas that society is ill-prepared to resolve. The reason for these quandaries are arguably attributed to the nature of the legal system - a legal system that seeks to draw its answers to modern problems from ancient rules and regulations) formulated at a time when extraordinary scientific developments could not have been anticipated.
The last two decades have seen rapid advancements in the field of artificial reproductive technologies ART. These procedures have already helped a significant number of infertile couples …show more content…
Both use the technology of in vitro fertilization, which became available in 1978. Partial surrogacy was the first of the two procedures to be medically possible: it involves the implantation of the surrogate with the sperm of the biological father, but uses the surrogate mother's eggs to form the pregnancy. This earlier type of surrogacy, because it used the surrogate's eggs, created the biological a connection which made it relatively easy for courts to determine that the birth mother was also the legal mother. Full surrogacy, also called gestational surrogacy, by contrast to partial surrogacy, occurs when a surrogate is implanted with the sperm of the biological father and the eggs of the biological mother; i.e., eliminating any biological relationship between the surrogate mother and the child. This variant on surrogacy eliminated the birth mother/genetic mother equation, and led to litigation disputing the child's parentage. Full surrogacy, although more expensive, is treated more favorably in some jurisdictions, leading many fertility clinics to offer it as the standard form. On the other hand, some urge that surrogacy contracts be treated like other contracts, with deference to the intent of the parties, and argue that they offer the opportunity for gender-neutral parentage