In this article written about Australia and New Zealand, the argument is made that surrogacy would be more secure and safer for all parties if there is regulation of surrogacy. Ukraine goes beyond many of the suggestions made here. In Ukraine, medical facilities for IVF procedures must be licensed, surrogates must have their own legal council, implantations are limited to 2 embryos.Surrogates must meet certain legal requirements. At Delivering Dreams, we go beyond all regulations in further testing our donors and surrogates to insure they are mentally and physically prepared to nurture your baby.

For a more affordable surrogacy with legal protections for the intended parents from inception, contact us at Delivering Dreams. Learn if we can help you grow your family. Financing is also available. 908-386-3864 [email protected], www.delivering-dreams.com.

A new way to regulate surrogacy to give more certainty to all involved by Ruth Walker and Liezl van Zyl .

Starting a family through surrogacy is fraught with stresses and uncertainties.

For heterosexual couples it is often the last resort after a history of disappointment and even tragedy.

Surrogates face the risk that the intended parents might opt out of the arrangement, leaving them the legal mother of a child they did not plan to raise. They are often not compensated for their service.

We think it is time for a new way to regulate surrogacy to provide certainty over legal parentage and protection of the surrogate’s rights.
Surrogacy now

In genetic surrogacy (also known as traditional or partial surrogacy), the surrogate uses her own egg and becomes pregnant through artificial insemination, usually using the intended father’s sperm. In gestational surrogacy (also called host surrogacy), the surrogate carries a couple’s embryo, or an embryo created using donor gametes, and becomes pregnant using in-vitro fertilisation techniques.

Current legislation in many countries creates unnecessary risks for all parties involved in a surrogacy arrangement. Many intended parents plunge into the even riskier world of international surrogacy where they encounter further obstacles to securing parental rights when they return with a baby.

Read more: Making commercial surrogacy illegal only makes aspiring parents go elsewhere

In a number of jurisdictions, including New Zealand and Australia, the only form of surrogacy that is permitted is altruistic (or unpaid) surrogacy. Typically, intended parents are allowed to reimburse pregnancy-related expenses, but are not permitted to pay anything beyond that.

We think this is unfair. Surrogates deserve fair compensation and, indeed, most intended parents want to be able to compensate the surrogate for her work and the risks she undertakes.

Antiquated adoption laws, such as New Zealand’s Adoption Act 1955, require the intended parents to adopt the baby from the surrogate. This generates tensions throughout the relationship over whether the surrogate will relinquish the baby, the intended parents will adopt it, and the social workers and Family Court will give their approval. All parties are entitled to certainty over legal parentage.