Global commercial surrogacy and international adoption: parallels and differences

Abstract

Over the decades, there have been numerous trends in the formation of family for those experiencing infertility. Adoption -initially domestic but now mostly international -has long been a prevailing method, with a dual outcome of also finding homes for parentless children. Those would-be parents with a stronger desire for genetic relatedness have turned to assisted reproductive technologies for the creation of their families. In the 21st century, capitalising on globalisation and advances in medical sciences and communication, global commercial surrogacy (GCS) is emerging as a dominant method of family formation. In seeking to publish this article in Adoption & Fostering, our primary objective was to provide its readership with an introductory look at GCS, thereby expanding an awareness of surrogacy to an audience whose work has traditionally been concerned with the care and protection of children through foster care and adoption. A secondary aim was to see where the long-standing field of adoption could potentially inform the burgeoning field of global commercial surrogacy. To achieve these objectives, we use international adoption and the adoption triangle as a framework, as we look at the similarities and differences between: (1) the adoptive and commissioning parents; (2) the birth mother and the surrogate; and (3) the adopted children and the children born of global surrogacy.

The Perceptions of New Zealand Lawyers and Social Workers About Children Being Adopted by Gay Couples and Lesbian Couples

“…Adoption as a legal phenomenon, creates new parenthood but importantly, the children's needs drive the processes and determine the adoptive parents' suitability; thus prospective adoptive parents are being selected to meet the needs of a specific child (Scherman et al, 2016). This may suggest the need for training for lawyers, beyond following the letter of the law, but which also includes an understanding of ways in which different types of family can effectively support children.…”

Transnational Health Law Beyond the Private/Public Divide: The Case of Reproductive Rights

“…65 Consequently, treatments are also economic and legal transactions, which often fall between national and international law. 66 Single persons who decide to seek treatment overseas will often choose jurisdictions where rules regulating parenthood are more beneficial to intended parents; in some American states, the single man can be registered on the birth certificate of his child. 67 However, international surrogacy presents its own distinct challenges with regard to the establishment of legal parenthood.…”

Regulating Commercial Global Surrogacy: The Best Interests of the Child

“…While the actual number of surrogacy contracts is unknown, the number of children conceived through commercial global surrogacy has been growing in many countries (Cuthbert and Fronek 2014). Even with rapid growth and more and more children crossing borders in global transactions, there are currently no international laws that protect the parties to surrogacy arrangements, as the Hague Convention does for intercountry adoption (Scherman et al 2016). Globally, national laws vary greatly, sometimes even within nations, such as in the United States and Australia.…”