Surrogacy involves a woman (the surrogate mother) carrying a child for someone else, usually an infertile couple or sometimes a gay couple. Before she becomes pregnant the surrogate mother agrees to give the child to the couple shortly after birth.
There are different forms of surrogacy, and these can be grouped into categories:
Traditional surrogacy
The surrogate mother provides the egg for fertilization, and the intended father provides the sperm. Fertilization can occur as the result of intercourse, in vitro fertilization (IVF), or artificial insemination. The surrogate mother is the genetic mother of the child. At birth the child is surrendered by the surrogate mother to the intended parents, with the female partner effectively becoming the step mother of the child.
Gestational surrogacy
In gestational surrogacy the surrogate mother is not related genetically to the child. An egg from the intended mother or from another female donor is fertilized by the sperm of the intended father, using IVF. The resulting embryo is then transferred to the uterus of the surrogate mother. If the IVF process has resulted in a number of embryos the remaining embryos may be frozen and stored for use at a later date.
Commercial surrogacy
Takes place when the contract between the surrogate mother and the intended parents involves payment for the services of the surrogate mother. Some countries have legislation which outlaws commercial surrogacy, but allow "reasonable expenses" to be paid to the surrogate mother. In New Zealand there is currently no law on surrogacy. Intending parents are usually referred by a fertility clinic to the National Ethics Committee on Assisted Human Reproduction (NECAHR), which gives approval on a case-by-case basis according to a set of guidelines. These include a requirement that the surrogacy be non-commercial.
A Catholic Perspective on Surrogacy
The Catholic Church opposes traditional and gestational surrogacy primarily because it offends against the dignity of the child, the uniqueness of the mother-child relationship, and the sanctity of marriage. It also treats women and children as commodities.
Some theologians oppose embryo adoption on the grounds that it is a form of surrogacy.
A surrogacy arrangement involves the planned separation of the child from its birth mother soon after birth. The separation of a child from its birth mother is never a desirable situation. It occurs in adoption, but in that situation it is carried out for the good of the child. In a surrogacy situation the separation occurs to fulfil the desires of adults rather than to meet the needs of the child.
Conception, gestation, birth and nurturing are part of a continuum of relationship. Child and parents grow into relationship together, with that relationship ultimately lasting a lifetime. The relationship is genetic, gestational and nurturing, with all facets of the relationship interacting to produce the child-parent bond. Surrogacy fractures that continuum of relationship, introducing at least two, if not three, "mothers", and more than one set of parents. This is done to meet adult needs, not for the good of the child. According primacy to adult needs over those of the child is at the heart of the Church's opposition to traditional and gestational surrogacy.
Women bearing children for others are often vulnerable due to disparities of power and resources between them and those seeking their assistance as surrogates. Commercial surrogacy compounds the indignity for the mother and the child, as it turns both the child and the reproductive capacity of women into commodities.
The Nathaniel Centre: Submission to the National Health Ethics Committee on Assisted Human reproduction (NECAHR) on the Draft Guidelines for Non-commercial Altruistic Surrogacy using IVF as Treatment (2001).
The Nathaniel Centre: Submission to Health Select Committee on Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill (2003)