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| Legal Issues Surrounding Surrogacy | Both parties should ask for an independent legal advice. Although it’s not necessary to attest contracts and agreements of surrogacy legally, most infertility clinics would insist on getting written permissions from both sides before accepting them for treatment.
It is important for the intended parents to recognize the woman who carries the child as the mother. Therefore, the surrogate can not be forced to give the baby away. Likewise if the commissioning party decides to reject the child, it remains the responsibility of the surrogate.
All couples considering surrogacy must assume of the small probability of bonding between the surrogate mother and the baby and that she can refuse to give it away. The physical connection usually gets closer as the pregnancy goes forward and strengthens when the child is born.
The outcome of a surrogacy like the outcome of any ordinary pregnancy is hardly predictable. If a fetal abnormality is diagnosed during the pregnancy only the surrogate mother has the right to give consent to abort no matter what the intended parents would think.
The biological parents have a responsibility to the surrogate in case of any risk. They also have to guarantee the welfare of the surrogate and her family. This can be carried out by with the help of the insurance policy. A guardian should be assigned to look after the child if the intended parents predecease the child.
Surrogacy arrangements require good will from both sides and the genetic parents will have to obtain parental right through the court. In order the court to issue a parental order, the following conditions must be applied.
• The commissioning couple must be married and over 18 years old.
• One or both intended partners must be genetically linked to the child.
• The baby must be in their care.
• The host couple must give their permission.
• No money must be paid.
• Application for parental order should be made when the baby is between 6 weeks and 6 months old.
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