Commercial surrogacy

Surrogacy is not a new idea. Neither is medical tourism. The biblical tale of Hagar, Abraham and Sarah is perhaps the first record of surrogacy in action and Ancient Greeks would travel far distances to reach Sanctuaries devoted to their Gods, in the hope of health improvement.

However, advances in reproductive technologies, communication and travel have combined to make medical tourism far more attractive and accessible. As a result, reproductive tourism in the form of commercial surrogacy is undergoing a major surge in popularity.

Commercial surrogacy is a term that describes a woman who is financially compensated – beyond expenses associated with pregnancy – for carrying the baby of another couple. Statistics regarding exact numbers of commercial surrogacies are difficult to come by, perhaps because reported numbers of IVF cycles at assisted reproductive clinics do not necessarily correlate with successful pregnancies, or possibly because such surrogacies are often thought of as controversial.

As reproductive technology such as IVF becomes more advanced and with that, more accessible, it is indisputable that incidence of gestational surrogacy is increasing. The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) has shown that between 2009-2013 the numbers of gestational surrogacies increased by 91%.

With clear financial advantages to international commercial surrogacy, certain countries without regulation to the contrary – such as Ukraine and India – are becoming hotspots for the industry. India in particular has emerged as a first port-of-call for the baby outsourcing trend currently sweeping the world. However, there are both practical and ethical objections to this emerging practice.

In particular, the psychological consequences for the surrogate mother are difficult to anticipate. Especially when the motives for entering a surrogacy contract are predominantly financial, it is unreasonable to expect a woman to accurately predict how she will handle giving up the baby. It is equally important to remember the serious and potentially fatal health consequences that the act of pregnancy itself carries.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that in 2014 more than 358,000 women died from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. Furthermore, an alarming 10 million women suffer from injury, infection or disease as a result of a pregnancy. The risks to life from surrogacy are therefore not insignificant. These risks may even be greater than those experienced in a normal pregnancy due to the higher prevalence of multiple births and caesareans associated with IVF.

India – An Entrepreneur’s Paradise
As the globalization of healthcare gains momentum, the number of fertility clinics worldwide is rising accordingly. The lack of legal complications, seemingly high availability of surrogates and relatively inexpensive nature of surrogacy in India combine to make it an attractive and attainable option for many couples. The Iswarya Women’s Hospital & Fertility Centre, has shown a 7-fold increase. Whilst these figures may not seem particularly significant in isolation, when we remember that there are hundreds, possibly thousands of fertility clinics worldwide, the numbers add up very quickly.

The Akansha Infertility and IVF clinic in Anand, India is experiencing a similar surge in popularity. The Medical Director of the clinic, Dr. Nayna Patel, is a highly educated, entrepreneurial woman. She describes with enthusiasm and unabashed pride the process by which a woman can become a surrogate in the 2009 film Google Baby. Patel describes commercial surrogacy simply: it is ‘one woman helping another’.

Potential surrogates at Patel’s clinic must meet strict criteria. All women should have successfully had a child previously, and be genetically unrelated to the surrogate child – although surrogates are frequently egg donors too. This acts as a precaution to prevent the women from forming strong attachments to the babies that they are carrying. However, the 1990’s Californian Johnson vs. Calvert case is a painful example of how, even in gestational pregnancy, a surrogate mother can develop a strong bond with the baby.

In this case, Mark and Crispina Calvert hired a surrogate, Anna Johnson, to carry their baby. IVF was used to fertilize Cristina’s egg with Mark’s sperm before implanting the resulting zygote in Anna’s uterus. The pregnancy was a success however a legal battle ensued as Anna discovered that she had formed a much stronger bond than anticipated with the child. The court found in favor of the Calverts, and Anna was left with no legal claims to the child. Anna clearly could not predict how it would feel to give up a child, and paid a steep price.

This is especially true when the women making this decision are blinded by poverty and their need to provide basic living essentials for their families. In such cases their ability to objectively evaluate the effect of this invasive procedure, and its accompanying roller coaster of emotions, is almost definitely compromised, even if they pass ‘mandatory psychological assessments’ that are obligatory in many of these clinics.

A Question of Rights
Interestingly, both critics and fans of commercial surrogacy take on the human rights shield when supporting their positions. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (article 16) says that ‘Men and women of full age ... have the right to marry and found a family.’ Article 27 goes on to say that ‘Everyone has the right ... to share in scientific advances and its benefits’. By this reasoning alone, if the technology to have a child via surrogacy is available, then women have every right to take it up. Furthermore, in many cultures where having a child is considered a great gift and a blessing, denying a couple of this right can be seen as doing them a grave disservice.

Daniel Callahan, a renowned philosopher with a special focus on bioethics, beautifully articulates the flaw in this desire to utilize technology whenever possible. The quote below, taken from his paper ‘Death with dignity’, illustrates an underlying principle that is perfectly applicable to our discussion here. He writes,

“Some physicians argued that they had a moral duty to save life at all costs. The quality of life, the actual prognosis, or the pain induced by zealous treatment, were all but irrelevant. The technological imperative to use every possible means to save life was combined with the sanctity of life principle in what seemed the perfect marriage of medicine and morality”.

As Callahan implies, just because the technology to save life exists, it doesn’t mean that it must be used. The same can be said for commercial surrogacy – yes, we have the technology to do it, and we may even have willing participants, but should we actually do it?

There are further ethical issues at stake. The use of human beings – both baby and surrogate – as a commodity, and the idea of ownership, even if just for 9 months, of one person by another are issues that cannot be ignored.

A Feminist Issue?
It may seem paradoxical to approach this issue from a feminist angle when you consider the fact that most of the key players are women. It tends to be women that strongly feel the desire for a child, women who volunteer for surrogacy and women who are often the hospital directors and healthcare workers fuelling the provision of surrogacy services. In order to see why this is a feminist issue we must take the opportunity to reflect upon the reasons why women consider commercial surrogacy in the first place.

Quite often, the answer is poverty. Many women taking part in this type of surrogacy live in destitute situations where any opportunity to escape poverty is likely to be welcomed with open arms. Yet, although poverty affects men and women equally, only women can act as commercial surrogates. The decision they make is unlikely to be solely their own – it will be influenced by social circumstances, in-laws, husbands and maybe even their children – and yet they alone will have to face the emotional and physical consequences of becoming a surrogate. In this way women are exquisitely discriminated against.

The Law
Complications related to pregnancy can raise certain legal issues. For example, to what extent (if any) can the commissioning couple be held responsible for a surrogate death from complications during pregnancy or labor? What claims, if any, does a surrogate mother – or her relatives – have to the child?

These issues are highlighted by the example of Natasha Caltabino, a British surrogate. On New Years Eve 2004, Natasha died of an abdominal aortic aneurysm within hours of giving birth to a baby boy. The Surrogacy Arrangement Act states ‘surrogacy arrangements are unenforceable’ so commissioning parents must legally adopt the child after birth. Following Natasha’s death both her mother and the commissioning couple laid claim to the baby – who eventually went to the intended biological parents.

There is a large variation in surrogacy laws worldwide. Some countries, such as France and Germany, have a complete ban on all forms of surrogacy. Others, such as the UK, enable altruistic surrogacy only – although in the UK, reasonable expenses can be paid to the surrogate, and it is common practice for the commissioning couple to take out a life insurance policy for the surrogate.

A more liberal approach in which both commercial and altruistic surrogacy is legal has been taken by countries including Israel and India. This inconsistency in the law globally has given rise to a number of complicated legal dilemmas that, in correlation with the increasing popularity of reproductive tourism, look set to arise more often.

Laws regulating surrogacy can be complex and hard to enforce. In light of this, as well as the psychological and potential physical damage that could be caused to the surrogate, perhaps a total ban on commercial surrogacy, including altruistic surrogacy with ‘reasonable’ monetary compensation, is necessary. However, it would be naive to think that such a move would have no negative consequences. The emergence of a black market is almost inevitable. The criminalization of commercial surrogacy would leave desperate couples and potential surrogates open to exploitation by ‘underground’ surrogacy brokers.

Do Unto Others ...
Commercial surrogacy potentially leaves women open to exploitation, and both physical and mental scars. One potential solution is a complete ban on commercial surrogacy internationally – however, this is probably unlikely in the near-term. Another avenue is to increasingly render commercial surrogacy socially unacceptable, probing questions of ethics and responsibility.

Perhaps the answer lies in the words of the well-known philosopher Immanuel Kant:

I ought never to act except in such a way that I could also will that my maxim should become universal law.

In other words, if you wouldn’t want to become a surrogate or you wouldn’t want your wife or daughter, sister or friend to do so – solely out of financial need – then how can we consider it a viable escape from poverty for any woman?

(Robyn Perry-Thomas, University of St Andrews)

Surrogacy scandal that's shocked the world

Newborn twins slept side by side in matching cots last night at the centre of a grotesque surrogacy controversy that has shocked the world.

One child, a little boy, was born to a woman of 62 after her brother provided the sperm to fertilise an egg donated by an American woman.

The other baby, a girl, has the same 52-year-old father but was born to the American surrogate and handed over last week.

The elderly siblings, Jeanine and Robert Salomone, had travelled from their home in France to a U.S. clinic and passed themselves off as husband and wife in order to get IVF treatment.

They were desperate to have a child to secure an heir to their 80-year-old mother's £2million fortune. They feared that the money would otherwise be split up among distant cousins.

The head of France's medical ethics committee said he was 'sickened, saddened and shocked' by the tawdry tale.

The desperately tangled family tree means that Mr Salomone is both the father and uncle of the little boy, five-week-old Benoit-David.

The other baby, four-week-old Marie-Cecile, is both his twin, (because Mr Salomone and the American woman are the genetic parents of both), his half-sister (because they have the same father but were born to different women) and his cousin (because she is the daughter of his birth mother's brother).

Miss Salomone is one of the oldest women to become a mother. The record holder is a Filipino living in California who was 63 when she gave birth to a daughter in 1997.

Defending her actions yesterday as she looked after the children at her Provencal farmhouse outside the town of Draguignan, Miss Salomone, a retired schoolmistress, said: 'I've done nothing wrong and I have nothing on my conscience. I am not irresponsible.

'I may be 62 and my brother 52 but we're better able to bring up children than a couple of heroin addicts depending on the state to bring up their child.

'Why judge us and not people like them? I've been battling to have a child for years.

'I treasure these little ones and I get up three times a night like all mothers. I sing to rock them to sleep. My son is more than I ever hoped for.'

She explained that she and her brother decided on the two pregnancies so that if she lost her baby, the American woman could still provide them with a child.

'I had IVF treatment in the past in France with my own eggs and my then boyfriend's sperm, but it failed,' she said.

'I could not pass on my genetic heritage because of my age so I wanted to carry on Robert's in order that our family lineage could continue.

'I went to Italy to consult Dr Severino Antinori, a specialist on late pregnancies, but he said he would give eggs only to women younger than me.

'After seeing a television programme and making numerous telephone calls, I found Dr Vicken Sahakian's clinic in the United States.

'Robert and I tried two years ago with his sperm and an egg from the same donor but it did not work.

'We went back in August last year and this time it did.

'Robert allowed me to become a mother and I helped him find a surrogate mother so he could have his first child, a little girl.

'Robert and I are both healthy in body and mind. We wouldn't have had these children if they didn't mean happiness for both of us.'

She denied directly misleading the American clinic about her brother's identity.

'We simply introduced ourselves to the doctor as having the same surname,' she said.

'In the past people have already mistaken us for man and wife because I look relatively young and we often went about together.'

However, the doctor who arranged the IVF treatment - at £56,000 for each child - said he was horrified to find out that the parents were siblings.

'I would never have carried out these

fertilisations if I had known,' said Dr Sahakian, of the Pacific Fertility Centre in Los Angeles.

'I am very disappointed that they lied to me.

'Jeanine told me Robert was her husband and they both had the same surname so I wasn't going to demand to see their wedding certificate.'

Neighbours say that the brother and sister have a tempestuous relationship and do not get on well. In a fit of depression, he tried to shoot himself in the head with a shotgun five years ago after she threw him out of their home. The suicide attempt left him severely disfigured.

A police report in 1993 stated: 'The members of this family ferociously hate each other and use the police to settle their fights. The situation is very worrying and is caused by family misunderstandings about future inheritance.'

It is understood that neither brother nor sister has ever been married.

The details of the case have caused outrage in France, with some denouncing the actions of the siblings as incest.

Professor Axel Kahn, of the French medical ethics committee, said: 'This sickens, saddens and shocks me. 'It disturbs all the family relationships because it means the little boy is the son of his uncle, while his genetic mother is a surrogate he will never know.

'This will be a difficult situation to cope with and I'm horrified that doctors have been so mercenary as to permit it.

'These doctors did not act in the interests of the children or for medical good but to satisfy the fantasies of clients who were prepared to pay them handsomely.

'French law bans such practices and I hope that if such a thing were ever attempted in France, the doctors concerned would be prosecuted and convicted.'

Jacques Montagut, chief biologist on France's National Medical Council for Ethics, said: 'There is a time in life to become a mother, but another to become a grandmother.

'This birth is a disgrace. The procedure is illegal in France.

'This woman has twisted the law. Just imagine, if she lives to be 82 her son will be only 20.'

French police have investigated the affair but decided that no offence had been committed. Last night the French social affairs ministry said that despite the initial police decision that there had been no offence of incest, it would be seeking a further detailed investigation into the issue.

A ministry spokesman said: 'This appears to be incest. We are very worried about the life ahead for Jeanine's child.'

The brother and sister were reluctant to discuss the financial background to their desire for a child.

But their mother, Marie, said the family was concerned that her £2million fortune, based on property, would ultimately go to distant relatives if neither her son nor daughter produced an heir.

'We feared that a lifelong struggle to build up our investments would eventually go to cousins for want of a direct heir,' she said.

'Our family has suffered a lot with my husband dying early and my son being handicapped.

'This baby, my only grandson, has finally made life beautiful.'

(by LESLEY HUSSELL, Daily Mail)

Spain seeks solution for surrogate babies stuck in legal limbo

For the last four months, dozens of newborns have been caught in a legal limbo in Spain, which has been refusing to recognize their parents or grant them any rights as Spanish citizens.

The babies were born to surrogate mothers, a practice that is banned in Spain. Dozens of heterosexual and same-sex couples who went abroad to hire surrogates have found they are unable to include their children on the Civil Registry, a necessary step toward attaining citizenship and the rights it brings.

According to an association representing the families, the problem stems from an adverse ruling handed down by the Supreme Court in February of this year that led Spanish consulates abroad to stop registering babies born to surrogates.

Now, affected couples are pinning their hopes on the European Court of Human Rights, which has condemned the French state for maintaining similar policies. The Spanish government admits that the European ruling is also binding for Spain, and that it is analyzing legal ways to implement it, according to Justice Ministry undersecretary Juan Bravo.

For years, embassies copied US birth certificates word for word, and nobody asked any questions

Even before the Strasbourg decision was made public, the Spanish Justice Ministry had expressed a desire to do something about the situation, at least in the case of babies born in the United States, where surrogacy is legal and is supervised by judicial authorities.

Two weeks ago, the Cabinet approved a bill that made some progress on the issue. But families say it is not enough.

In the meantime, these babies are living in Spain on their American passport, while stuck in an administrative no man’s land.

The 2006 Assisted Reproduction Law declared void any contract signed with a woman who agrees to see a pregnancy to term on behalf of another party, regardless of whether she is paid to do so or not. Even so, demand has grown in recent years as couples circumvent the law by traveling to countries where surrogacy is legal.

Around 800 Spanish couples resort to surrogate mothers in the US every year, according to advocacy group Son Nuestros Hijos (They are our kids).

The dilemma is, how to register those children back in Spain so they will have the same rights as other Spaniards. For years, registry workers did not make too much trouble, according to this association and to several lawyers and civil servants consulted by EL PAÍS. Embassies copied the US birth certificate word for word, where the couple’s name showed up as the child’s legal parents, and nobody asked any questions.

Couples are pinning their hopes on the European Court of Human Rights, which has condemned France for similar policies

But that was when the couples were heterosexual. Following the 2005 law that allowed same-sex marriage and adoption in Spain, male couples also began hiring surrogate mothers. This made it more obvious to consulate workers that the babies had been born through surrogacy, and they began to hesitate. In October 2010, the Justice Ministry ordered registrars to act cautiously, given the increased demand for surrogate mothers in countries such as India and Ukraine, where no legal oversight is provided and it is harder to know whether the surrogate mother acted freely or out of duress.

It was decided to demand a court ruling from the country of origin confirming the validity of the surrogacy. This was not a problem for couples in the US.

But in February of this year, the Supreme Court ruled that this practice violated the 2006 ban on surrogacy, and that the baby can only be registered if one of the parents can prove his paternity and the other formally adopts the child.

The Strasbourg court uses opposing arguments to condemn France, holding that the rights of the child are above the need to respect existing laws.

“We are now forced to introduce legal modifications to adjust our laws to the Strasbourg interpretation, and we will,” promises Bravo.

 (http://elpais.com/elpais/2014/07/04/inenglish/1404469559_678105.html)

The European Court of Human Rights adjudged that surrogacy is legal!

In France, surrogacy is illegal. Many childless families who can’t deal with infertility using offered treatment at home lose hope to become parents. As a result such couples go to countries where surrogacy is legal and can be done according the European standards. But coming back home to France with child parents face with a huge problem - children born by surrogate mothers abroad are not recognized by local authorities and do not receive French citizenship. Earlier, two couples who faced with this problem, appealed to the European Court of Human Rights with legal statement. In 2000 American surrogate mother gave birth to twins for one French couple and in 2001 another infertile husband and wife became happy parents of a girl born by surrogate mother. But French government did not recognize these children and till nowadays they have no citizenship. European Court of Human Rights considered these statements and obligated French authorities to recognize all children born by surrogate mothers abroad as French citizens. Examining complaints court found violations of the European Convention on Human Rights in both cases and ordered France to pay compensation for moral damage to all participants.

French authorities, in turn, disagree and make a hostile demonstration against such a decision.  Nevertheless France is obliged to fulfill terms of the European court. "It is an important decision that will bring relief not only to situation of these two couples but a great number of French families who face with such a hopeless situation" - French lawyers argue.

France is not the only state that opposes surrogacy legalizing. Italy and Germany are also in this list. In these countries every seventh couple is infertile. They do not want to put up with this reality and travel to countries where such medical programs are allowed. U.S.A, India and Ukraine are the most popular states for childless families to conduct surrogacy. A lot of couples choose America as a suitable place for such program, even though the inflated prices. So, in America surrogacy can cost you 100-160 thousand euro and without guarantee to receive positive result. Price depends on the number of attempts, as each one is paid separately in America. In case of premature birth, you will have to pay for every day that child will stay in hospital. And it will cost you 4-5 thousand dollars per day. Taking into account the fact that baby’s stay in hospital can last up to a month it will be pot of money. Also, do not forget about flight - it will make a hole in family savings in an amount about 500-600 dollars.

As of Ukraine, this third world country pulled ahead even advanced European countries in the reproductive medicine sphere. Ukraine has taken up top position and occupied main part of this market. Here clinics conduct cheap surrogacy programs, according to local law and with guarantee. In Ukraine, market of reproductive services is monopolized by BioTexCom clinic. It offers "all inclusive" packages with 100% guarantee for the successful program’s result. Surrogacy program in BioTexCom costs 30 thousand euro. But, visiting clinic’s web site it can be seen information concerning price’s increase. Thus, according to the site, surrogacy program will cost 35 thousand euro in a year and in future price will reach 50 thousand euro. This price includes unlimited number of attempts, accommodation and food, transfer and manager who will help you in all questions. If suddenly, after birth, child will need to stay in hospital and receive any treatment clinic takes all these costs. That is, patients pay only one fixed sum and get a 100% positive result. But many patients complain about the huge queues, sometimes people have to wait in line during about a year in order to start the program. But when woman is already over 40 years old she has no time to wait. That’s why many people choose clinics in the United States: Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine, Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility at New York, Infertility Center of St. Louis at St. Luke's Hospital, Nevada Center for Reproductive Medicine, Southern California Reproductive Center and others. It will be expensive but without queues.

India is another one suitable variant for infertile couples. It is called as a Mecca of surrogacy. Such clinics as Ideal fertility center, Bloom IVF Clinic, India Parakh Fertility Center and many others conduct programs of egg donation and surrogacy fast, at a good price and with high quality. In India, as well as in America, each attempt must be paid separately. And if you're lucky to get pregnant successfully you will spend about 22-23 thousand euro. Flight and accommodation will cost a pretty penny - about 5 thousand euro. But do not forget that you will need to visit clinic for 3-4 times. It’s also rather expensive to stay in Indian hospital - about 1 thousand euro per month.

In India, issue with documents will become an obstacle for foreigners who want to conduct surrogacy program there. Embassy does not issue needed documents. Besides if you need a donor of biological material with European genotype it will be a problem in India. Here doctors can offer you only Hindu race donors. But, clinics in India have a solid base of worthy donors. Taking into account all pros and cons of reproductive services in India, a great number of patients go to Ukraine and America in order to use surrogacy. There you will face any difficulties and successfully receive all necessary documents for a newborn baby during some days.

Hunkering down to go through surrogacy outside home country, documentary part of the medical program is always the main issue for infertile couples. Obtaining of documents for the child in order to leave the country and citizenship are the main problems couple can face with. So, Americans and Italians will have no problem with documents and will be successfully inscribed as parents in birth certificate of baby born by a surrogate mother abroad. In the case of German citizens, father (German citizen) is written as “child’s father” in the certificate and name of surrogate mother in the "mother of the child" column.

Surrogacy and egg donation legalization process slowly but surely moves forward in the world. Recently, Italian law permitted egg donation, Greece legalized surrogacy and Spain law permit to conduct such programs abroad and receive citizenship certificate. In good Spanish clinics, such as Bernabeu Institute, Dexeus and "IVF Spain" clinics, Marquez Institute conduct egg donation and achieve rather good results.

Many European patients who have faced with infertility problem prefer to look for reproductive clinics abroad through agencies - intermediaries in their countries. So, for example, Spanish agency “Subrogalia” offers patients countries where donation and surrogacy is permitted. As a result, patient pays more but gets a competent and qualified help he need.

Recent news concerning France and conditions presented by the European Court of Human Rights will smooth the way for revise world’s attitude towards surrogacy and simplifying conditions for citizens who need such programs.

 (http://newseurope.info/?p=36557)

Does Surrogacy in Mexico Safety? Not sure yet.

“Since I live in the border state of Texas, surrogacy in Mexico would be the ideal area for me to spend my efforts and advertising dollars: easy, cheap flights, sun, sand, all inclusive resorts.   However, the growing violence in much of Mexico gives me a great deal of pause. These are Cartels committing these crimes, without regard to who gets in the way of shooting members of opposing cartels. These are not pocket pickers, or street beggars, or credit card thieves, these are hardened criminals with major guns in hand fighting over drugs, money, and territorial rights to same.

I think before anyone looks at Mexico, please consider the areas not only you as the Intended parent, egg donor, or self-cycler, consider the areas that your surrogates will be living - usually not in the resort towns and much closer to violence along the border towns. I think I might consider doing IVF myself in Mexico, say in Cancun, there IS an excellent IVF doctor there, but I would not want my surrogate who is growing my child living in some of these really bad news towns. Tabasco being one.  

I'll look further into this option, as I would love for us to have a safe and affordable alternative to travelling halfway around the world, but I really think that there is just not a safe way to go forward with actual surrogacy in Mexico at this time. Perhaps things will change, heck India and Thailand are poor countries with a host of their own problems (but I've always felt safe in India), but something really just stops me flat with Mexico. The thought of a 3 hour flight and a beach assist clients sounds fantastic, but I really do not feel good about the abject violence occurring every day.  It just does not feel safe for anyone.

I'm going to continue to research and talk to others and watch how things develop. I've had a number of people ask me given my proximity to the country why I'm not sold on Mexico. I just think that India and Thailand are safer, more experienced, and have evolved programs in place”.

(Kim Hendrix)

Make a choice correctly!

India is one of a few countries, though perhaps the most popularized, where commercial surrogacy is legal. The country emerged as a “hotspot” in part because of lower costs and laws passed in 2002 allowing commercial surrogacy. But amount rarely includes unforeseen expenses like surrogate hospitalizations, or the basic travel costs such as flight and hotel stay.

Exact numbers of U.S. citizens going to India - or anywhere else - for surrogacy. Surrogacy in India is largely unregulated, though the Indian Council of Medical Research is moving toward greater control, including the registration of clinics. An estimated 2,000 foreign babies are born to Indian surrogates each year, according to research. But tighter restrictions may alter the scope of India’s surrogacy tourism. In July 2012, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs ruled that foreigners needed medical, not tourist, visas to pursue surrogacy. The ministry limited those visas to straight couples who've been married at least two years, and who come from countries that also permit surrogacy. The rule change amounted to a bar on singles, gay, and unmarried couples, and on those circumventing their home laws to have children.

Thailand and the Mexican state of Tabasco, two places where surrogacy clinics now cater to international singles and couples - particularly same-sex couples. Thailand has been a popular surrogacy choice for Australians, but has become more appealing to Americans because of the new restrictions in India. In Thailand, where surrogacy is de facto legal there are no laws against it, but that also means few protections in place for surrogates, doctors, and expectant parents.

As for Tabasco, many people say they have outstanding questions. It’s still new. So everybody’s starting to flock there and flock to Thailand. The stories will soon start coming out, the good stories and the bad stories.

No matter the destination, real risks exist. Clinics sometimes make false promises about results, or inflate success rates. Would-be parents can spend tens of thousands without ever having a baby.

Citizenship laws also haven’t kept pace with reproductive technology or global access to it. Children born to surrogate mothers in India are not considered Indian citizens. But the U.S. grants citizenship to children born to surrogates only if they have a genetic link to at least one parent. Yet DNA mismatches - because of lab error, or when eggs or sperm are deliberately substituted to increase the chances of a fertilized embryo - have left babies "stateless," unable to obtain an Indian or U.S. passport. If you don’t have a passport, you can’t get on an airplane and come home.

But the surrogates also face risks. Because these women are paid, many see surrogacy as a pathway out of poverty. It raises the status of them in their whole community. It is a positive thing. But women can miscarry, or develop health problems during and after pregnancy. Clinics don't always provide follow-up medical care or compensation for families if something goes wrong.

(http://www.newrepublic.com/)

Surrogate motherhood. Is it kid’s sale or lifesaving?

In today's world, surrogacy enjoys great popularity because problem of infertility has reached peak level in the 21st century. Innovative technologies help to work wonders. Today couples even with the most hopeless cases of infertility can have gene-related child using such programs as eggs donation or surrogacy. But, in this issue, as is the case, there are both supporters and opponents. Adherents of assisted reproductive methods consider them to be the only chance to become parents. Opponent in turn claim that surrogacy is nothing like awful process of turning babies into goods that are bought dearly and sold good by comfortably situated people. Feminists see in this procedure only exploitation of women, and representatives of religion consider surrogacy to be an immoral tendency that undermines sanctity of marriage and family.

It’s always easy to say, as long as you do not face the fact of what you are talking face to face.
For any family in which woman cannot conceive or bear a child surrogacy is the only way to get a genetically native child. It’s important to note that exploitation of woman is out of the question in this case. We live in a developed civilization and surrogate mothers voluntarily agree with this role in exchange for financial compensation and moral satisfaction that they help infertile people to become happy and make their cherished dream come true. Comments concerning information that clinics sell children offering surrogacy program are unfounded and baseless. Medical centers that operate according to the law and in accordance with all international standards are not interested in 'black' deals in order to foul own good reputation and work.

BioTexCom clinic is proud of its positive results and great achievements. Center successfully conducts programs for infertile couples from all over the world without law violations. And looking at thousands of happy couples, with tears of happiness in eyes we can say with certainty that reproductive medicine is moving in the right direction. By the way there are more supporters of assisted methods of infertility treatment than its opponents. Looking through the numerous forums, comments book and letters of gratitude that is addressed BioTexCom clinic we understand that our work is not for nothing but only for the good of mankind.