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Looking for a
Surrogate Mother or an egg donor?
This book
is a moving real-life account of one woman's struggle
with infertility and her journey through surrogacy to
have the family she desperately wanted.
Click here
for more details
Latest Surrogacy News
Issues
surrounding surrogacy
-- Liz
Doup, Sun Sentinel
Posted April 6,
2003
Here are the medical, psychological and legal
implications of surrogacy.
Medical: Typically, the surrogate
is screened for sexually transmitted diseases and other viruses that
can affect the health of the fetus. Both women -- the egg donor and
the surrogate -- take medication, daily hormone injections, to get
their menstrual cycles in sync. After the embryos are transferred to
the surrogate, she continues daily hormone injections for roughly
nine to 12 weeks.
Psychological: Potential surrogates
working through an agency or fertility clinic typically meet with a
psychologist and complete a personality-profile questionnaire.
Psychologists look for red flags -- dishonesty, unreliability. They
also consider a surrogate mother's motivation, ideally a combination
of altruism and financial gain.
Legal: Florida is one of
the few states with specific laws on "gestational''
surrogacy, in which the surrogate has no genetic link to the
baby. (Gestational surrogacy has largely replaced
traditional surrogacy, in which the surrogate's eggs were
used.)
Many states avoid legislation
because it's a political hot potato due to religious and moral
opposition, says Andrew Vorzimer, the Beverly Hills attorney
representing Joan Lunden, who's using a surrogate. In addition, some
consider it exploitive for wealthier women to pay poorer women to
carry their children.
Some states, such as New York, outlaw
paying surrogates at all. In Florida, it's illegal to pay a
surrogate for having a baby, but she can receive a "reasonable''
amount for various expenses, such as medical, legal and
psychological costs. In some states that limit surrogates'
compensation couples skirt the legalities by giving "gifts.''
Florida law also addresses everything from who's responsible
for the baby, regardless of impairment -- typically the want-to-be
parents -- to who makes decisions while the baby's in the womb --
typically the surrogate mom.
"In issues of medical
intervention, the surrogate has the final say,'' says Charlotte
Danciu, a Boca Raton attorney who handles surrogacy cases. "If the
baby is impaired, you can't make her terminate.''
Though
many people sign lengthy contracts addressing everything from the
surrogate's diet to sexual behavior during pregnancy, the contract
is difficult to enforce.
"The problem is, no one is there to
monitor,'' Vorzimer says. "It comes down to faith in a relationship
-- that people will do what's best.''
The most often
expressed concern: What happens if the surrogate wants the baby?
But that's only occurred about two dozen times since 1979,
Vorzimer says. Sometimes, the desire is genuine; other times it's a
grab for more money. Typically, the surrogate loses.
More
common is for the future parents to change their minds -- 65 couples
estimates Vorzimer, who figures the number based on previous
litigation and talks with agencies. Reasons include everything from
divorce to a premature or impaired baby. Generally, courts hold the
want-to-be parents accountable.
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