The rapid development of birth technologies in Australia has challenged legal conceptions of ‘family’ and ‘parent’, allowing families of alternative arrangement to have their needs protected. Societal values regarding the structure of families have sincerely changed in recent decades, recognising that whilst many individuals innately desire to parent a child, such cannot be achieved in the conventional way for many. In response to these changing values, the Family Law Amendment 2008 (Cth), Status of Children Act 1996, Assisted Reproductive Technologies Act 2007 and Surrogacy Act 2010 in New South Wales have been enacted, devising solutions for parents unable to naturally conceive as well as those of homosexual orientation.
Under the Status
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Surrogacy as a means of family formation is defined as “a woman carrying a pregnancy for a third party with the express intention of giving up all parental rights to resulting child(ren)”, hence allowing women unable to carry a pregnancy the right to parent a child. As claimed by the “Inquiry into the legislative aspects of international and domestic surrogacy arrangements”, society now recognises many different forms of blended families that are not based solely on genetic connections, expanding the models of family formation beyond traditional relationships. Prior to the enactment of the Surrogacy Act 2010, the Status of Children Act 1996 (NSW) automatically accorded parentage to the birth mother, and the Adoption Act 2000 (NSW) provided the only means to have legal parentage transferred from the birth mother to the intending parents. Accordingly, the newly enacted legal response removed discrepancies in transferring parentage to commissioning parents, providing a system of parenting orders where parties can apply to the NSW Supreme Court to transfer full legal parentage of the child from such parties, thus avoiding the lengthy adoptive process. Furthermore, the article “NSW considers changing surrogacy law changes” further reflects the response of the government to changing values in society. As published by the Sydney Morning Herald in
Second parent adoption is an important tool utilized by same-sex couples in an effort to protect their parental rights in states where same sex marriage is not recognized. Although gay and lesbian paren...
Ennis, Jane. "VICTORIA Digest - 27 Mar 1998 to 28 Mar 1998 ". Accessed 4/20/99. http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists/englit-victorian/1998-04/0003.html
To conclude, it is clear that this process is one that deals with significant controversy. Society’s views on Queensland’s current surrogacy laws vary, however a majority believe that the legislation is fair and just, without violating the rights of any individuals. We live in a society that is changing rapidly, and although we may be moving away from traditional family values, we are moving into a new time where it will eventually have to be made acceptable, with this rising change in what is seen as a traditional family.
Surrogate pregnancy was talked about and questioned in the early 1970’s but was not put into practice until 1976. The first case documented actually comes from the bible. It was the story of Abraham and Sarah. Sarah talks about her experience with infertility. She then turns to Hagar, her handmaiden, and asks her if she would carry their child for them since she was unable to. Hagar was their maid so in a way it was a command, not exactly a favor or question.
The advancement and continued developments of third-party assisted reproductive medical practices has allowed many prospective parents, regardless of their marital status, age, or sexual orientation, to have a new opportunity for genetically or biologically connected children. With these developments come a number of rather complex ethical issues and ongoing discussions regarding assisted reproduction within our society today. These issues include the use of reproductive drugs, gestational services such as surrogacy as well as the rights of those seeking these drugs and services and the responsibilities of the professionals who offer and practice these services.
I would have said that it was a generous and thoughtful act of kindness for a surrogate to be willing to help a couple bring a child into this world. I would have never thought deeply about some of the moral and ethical aspects of surrogacy, until now. I have been married for almost four years, and I believe in the unity of marriage and the idea of becoming one. After reading Cahill’s argument on surrogacy, and reflected on my own moral values, I immediately took a stance to agree with her. I believe that when it comes to a child, the best interest of the child should be a top priority. I am not a mother, but I am very passionate about children, and find their lives to be so precious. Parents should always have the child’s best interest in mind when making choices regarding their child’s life. A surrogate may be doing it as an act of kindness, and that may be her intention. However, I agree that surrogacy brings a dualistic element to the relationship. I know that as a married woman I would never hire a surrogate to bear my child, nor be a surrogate to carry someone else’s child. I want children, but I would never want to be treated as the means to an end, and I would not want my child to be considered a commodity. I strongly agree with Cahill in that a binding moral obligation does come with certain choices, even if we did not choose them in the first
Whether a created family is from previous heterosexual relationships, artificial insemination, or adoption, it deserves the same legal rights heterosexual families enjoy. Full adoption rights needs to be legalized in all states to provide a stable family life for children because sexual orientation does not determine parenting skills, children placed with homosexual parents have better well-being than those in foster care, and there are thousands of children waiting for good homes. The argument sexual orientation interferes with ones parenting skills is common belief that Charlotte J. Patterson identifies as myth in her work, Lesbian and Gay Parents and their Children, suggesting the belief that “lesbians’ and gay men’s relationships with sexual partners leave little time for ongoing parent–child interactions.” In the Who is Mommy tonight? case study, how 18 lesbian adoptive parents, 49 lesbian parents who formed their families biologically, and 44 heterosexual adoptive parents experience and perceive their parenting role, how they respond when their children seek them or their partner for particular nurturing, and how the parents negotiate the cultural expectation of a primary caregiver (Ciano-Boyce & Shelley-Sireci, 2002) is looked at.
Commercial surrogacy commodifies children because by paying the surrogate mother to give up her child, they treat the child as an object of exchange or commodity that can be bought and sold. As any business transaction, the parents give money for the exchange of an object, the child. The parents get their desired child and the mother gets the money, but what about what thee child think about this event? The parents and surrogate mother’s action were done with self-interest. It could be argued that they wanted the best for the child. However, the first priority in the intentional procreation of the child was not the welfare of the child but rather to give it up to the parents in exchange of money. Additionally, women’s labor is commodified because the surrogate mother treats her parental rights as it was a property right not as a trust. In other words, the decisions taken concerning the child are not done primarily for the benefit of the child. The act of the mother relenting her parental rights is done for a monetary price. She disposes of her parental rights, which are to be managed for the welfare of the owner, as if they were property right, which are to be handled for personal
" The Age Company Ltd. August 2002. 23 Feb 2003. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/08/13/1029113928191.html Scribner, Charles III. A.D. 2000 Cable News Network.
Gestational surrogacy, especially when it involves commercial surrogates, challenges the status quo in the ethical theory of reproduction, because with this technology the process of producing a child can no longer remain a private matter. Now a public contract exists between two parties, the couple and the surrogate ...
Arguments against commercial surrogacy typically revolve around the idea that surrogacy is a form of child-selling. Critics believe that commercial surrogacy violates both women’s and children’s rights. In addition, by making surrogacy contracts legally enforceable, courts will follow the contract rather than choose what is best for the child. However, in her article “Surrogate Mothering: Exploring Empowerment” Laura Pudry is not convinced by these arguments.
Adoption is a very important part of the American lifestyle. The welfare of children needs to be put in front of homophobia. There are an estimated 500,000 children in foster care nation wide, and 100,000 of these children are awaiting adoption. In 2013, only one child of every six available for adoption was actually adopted. (Sanchez, 13) Statistics like these show the true importance of adoption. People seem to prefer to have their own children biologically, but adoption should be taken into consideration, even if natural conception is possible.
A surrogacy is the carrying of a pregnancy for intended parents. There are two kinds of surrogacy: “Gestational”, in which the egg and sperm belong to the intended parents and is carried by the surrogate, and “traditional”, where the surrogate is inseminated with the intended father’s sperm. Regardless of the method, I believe that surrogacy cannot be morally justified. Surrogacy literally means “substitute”, or “replacement”. A surrogate is a replacement for a mother for that 9-month period of pregnancy, and therefore is reducing the role of the surrogate mother to an oversimplified and dehumanizing labor. The pregnancy process for the gestational mother can be very physically and mentally demanding, and is unique because after birthing the
Surrogacy is becoming extremely popular as a way for people to build their families and women to have a source of income. Many people have various reasons for their opposition to it whether it be by comparing it to prostitution or disagreeing with how military wives take advantage of the Tricare insurance. Lorraine Ali states in her article “The Curious Lives of Surrogates” that one of the more popular reasons to oppose surrogacy is that it contradicts, “what we’ve always thought of as an unbreakable bond between mother and child.” However, a woman’s inability to conceive her own children does not determine the absence of a mother to child bond.