§ 5.1 Surrogacy Generally

• Library: Assisted Reproductive Technology: A Lawyer's Guide to Emerging Law and Science (ABA) (2018 Ed.)

§ 5.1 Surrogacy Generally

A common definition of a "surrogate" is "a woman who substitutes for another who is unable to become pregnant."¹ In the context of modern assisted reproductive technology (ART), a more complete definition of "surrogate" is a woman who agrees to gestate and give birth to a child for another person or couple, whether or not she contributes genetics, and whether or not she does so for compensa-tion.² Historically, surrogacy was first known only in the context of assisted intrauterine insemination, in which a woman was impregnated "artificially" (i.e., by injection of sperm) with the sperm of a man not her husband. This is often called "traditional surrogacy" and can also be referred to as "genetic surrogacy." However, science eventually advanced the technology to permit a surrogate to bear a child to whom she is genetically unrelated, in which case the surrogate is referred to as a gestational carrier or gestational surrogate.³

Numerous legal complications arose as courts across the country attempted to reconcile and apply laws that...