Surrogacy Laws At A Glance

Surrogacy is the act of carrying a child for another couple. The laws that protect surrogates will vary in each jurisdiction and may be based on the type of surrogacy involved.

For example, surrogate mothers that use a donor egg may have differing rights than a surrogate mother that allows her egg to be fertilized by donor sperm. In most cases, those surrogate mothers are not biologically related to the child and, thus, have less rights than those who are.

However, in cases where a surrogate pregnancy may cause harm to the mother, the mother’s rights almost always outweigh the rights of the unborn child or of the intended parents. Medical decisions which may affect the surrogate mother’s health are almost always in the hands of the surrogate mother.

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