title: Surrogacy, Compensation, and Legal Parentage: Against the Adoption Model.
abstract: Surrogate motherhood is treated as a form of adoption in many countries: the birth mother and her partner are presumed to be the parents of the child, while the intended parents have to adopt the baby once it is born. Other than compensation for expenses related to the pregnancy, payment to surrogates is not permitted. We believe that the failure to compensate surrogate mothers for their labour as well as the significant risks they undertake is both unfair and exploitative. We accept that introducing payment for surrogates would create a significant tension in the adoption model. However, we recommend rejecting the adoption model altogether rather than continuing to prohibit compensation to surrogates.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, 3240, New Zealand. liezl@waikato.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Liezl
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van Zyl
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, 3240, New Zealand. rmwalker@waikato.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Walker
mesh_terms: D000300:Adoption / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D001675:Bioethics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009035:Mothers; D011247:Pregnancy; D060926:Remuneration; D012098:Reproduction / Q000941:ethics*; D012935:Social Justice; D013533:Gestational Carriers / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*
keywords: A professional model for surrogacy; Adoption; Compensation; Legal parentage; Surrogate motherhood