Legal Surrogacy In a Globalized World

In today’s world entering into an international surrogacy arrangement is becoming an increasingly popular option for International intended parents from all walks of life and all sexual orientations. This growing popularity is spurred on by the wider availability of global surrogacy services, high-profile celebrity surrogate babies, and increasing frustration with adoption services both domestic and foreign have boomed the industry. As more children are born as the result of surrogacy arrangements, family, immigration, and nationality laws across the globe have struggled to keep up with this developing area of law.

International Surrogacy has been in the last decades not only a controversial topic but rather a subject of today’s great importance since we now live in a more globalized world, where the advances of science grow and offer opportunities that open new worlds, many of them for human benefit; these advances have been basically reflected in the areas of technology, communication and in the field of specifically reproductive medicine, all of them meant in turn behaviors that humans, in general, carry out and, therefore, must be regulated by law.

It is precisely at this point where the law needs to intervene since the conduct of man tends to take place in a community, where there must be order and parameters of behavior for an adequate coexistence since the common good is sought as the ultimate goal.

Given that many achievements have been established in the field of medicine, people suffering from some cases of infertility have used, more and more frequently, the advances achieved, with the advantage offered by the early detection of diseases and the possible cure for many of them.

However, these achievements have not remained conventional, they have advanced and have even gone beyond, with all the means of assisted reproduction achieved, it has been possible to conceive the unimaginable: the conception of a human being without the need for a mother’s womb. In today’s world, it’s possible to have offspring, even when a spouse is unable to procreate due to some congenital cause or illness, since in vitro fertilization has been allowed and, in many cases, the freezing and cryopreservation of gametes, which makes it feasible for a woman to become pregnant even when her partner has died.

Surrogate motherhood, substitute motherhood, biological motherhood, uterus rental or whatever name is adopted, is a separate issue, since it implies using assisted reproduction means, with an out-of-body fertilization, that is, outside the mother’s body; however, there is a difference, since it requires the intervention of a woman, namely a carrier, she is key and necessary to successfully carry a pregnancy to term, that means that she will make possible the birth of a new being; This, which in medicine implies a great achievement, in the in the areas of law arises to various situations that should be eventually regulated, such as the full protection of the minor who will be conceived; let us remember that in most countries the principle of the “best interest of the minor” has already been established; Mexico has also signed several treaties where this principle is followed, and is therefore obliged to monitor its observance; the welfare of the surrogate mother must also be ensured; in this regard, several controversies arise, since it is criticized that SM (surrogate mother) must renounce all the rights she may have over the conceived child to grant them to the couple that hired her; On the other hand, the criticism regarding the woman who lends herself to carry out this procedure in exchange for payment, is centered on the fact that since she will not provide the genetic material and wouldn’t be the biological mother, therefore, she willfully agrees to renounce the rights derived from maternity. What is sought is to provide a solution to couples who for some reason cannot have children and do not wish to adopt, since it is a possibility and a right to realize a longing and a biological desire.

As a result, Egg Donors Miracles approach is to give an overview of what is involved in the use of assisted reproduction techniques, such as IVF and surrogacy, and all that it implies, as well as an appraisal of Mexico’s current situation regarding surrogacy law, which is awaiting to be published. This law establishes the legal regulation that has been poured by different states across Mexico, some with an advanced vision that regulates these conditions in the Mexican civil codes, others prohibiting this type of practices, and some more being omissive, as it is also intended to give an overview at the international level.

The law seeks to regulate the affairs of society and establish the parameters for a healthy and harmonious coexistence of society, but sometimes it has been outdated by conditions that men did not even imagine, such as the fact that a mother is a mother without carrying her child in her womb, either by in vitro fertilization or by using the surrogate mother procedure; On the other hand, we find that this issue is influenced by ethical, moral and religious considerations, which consider that assisted reproduction techniques should be prohibited because they go against human nature. In this context, three positions on surrogate motherhood have been identified: the liberal, the innate right, and the feminist.

Liberalism, with the idea of protecting the freedom to procreate, is in favor of the exercise of this right in the broadest sense since it allows the use of biotechnology and assisted reproduction techniques, as well as the freedom to decide whether or not to have children; one of the arguments used in favor of this theory is that women have the right to freely dispose of their bodies, which should be understood as an integral part of personal freedom. Such techniques are conceived as something positive in a couple that does not have the possibility of procreating a child, and their desire is to have offspring, based on the conception of the human being of affectivity and survival.

On the other hand, innate right makes a bioethical reflection based on an ethical approach founded on human nature.

Feminism shares in all its currents the common concern to raise the so-called gender issue, which aims to make physicians and women themselves aware of the subordinate status of women and a trend to exploitation and abuse, hence the relevance of regulating surrogacy practices locally and internationally.

In step with today’s scientific progress, it was clearly reflected in the field of medicine, which has had impressive achievements in human reproduction through medical practices called assisted reproduction techniques. Maternity involves two moments: first, the link of the woman with the gamete, once it has been fertilized, which is the process of gestation; and second: childbirth. The legal relationship is established with the woman’s recognition of her child as her own. Surrogate or substitute are synonyms: “substitute is the person who takes the place of another”; to put someone or something in the place of another, legally what it replaces are the rights and duties of a person.

The use of highly specialized technology that substitutes or complements sexual contact in order for fertilization to occur arose as a result of the problems presented throughout history in society, posed as a solution to the problems of infertility and sterility of a couple regardless of their sexual orientation.

The concept of infertility is the inability of a couple to achieve conception as for infertility, the impossibility of carrying to term the conceived child, which at a given moment can be corrected. This imprecise expression of surrogate mothers encompasses a much broader reality than just gestation and pregnancy. A surrogate mother is understood as The reproductive act that generates the birth of a child gestated by a woman subject to an agreement and commitment by which she must concede all rights over the newborn in favor of the Intended Parents.

If you are an intended parent considering international surrogacy, it’s likely that you’re already aware that different locations and territories offer different approaches to the process and follow a diverse array of legislation.

Surrogacy in Mexico offers some advantages and differences compared to other programs and has recently been added to the list of emerging countries in the International Surrogacy arena, Mexico’s biggest advantage in terms of money is that Mexican Programs are much more affordable than any SM Program in the US and less expensive than any other program in Europe also its important to consider the incredible destinations available in the country to carry out this process.  Those who qualify for surrogacy will benefit very soon from the ongoing positive development in Mexican law to broaden the scope of intended parents’ rights in Surrogacy.  One of EDM Agency’s achievements is that we can guarantee that gay couples can now have both of their names written on their children’s birth certificate.

Mexico can be positioned as a safe and reliable country where a Surrogacy process can be carried out and our Agency ensures this is possible through strict ethical and medical principles always prioritizing the  “best interest of the minor” above all conditions and circumstances.