"Baby-Steps for Baby Business": Diverse Market, Challenges, and Workable International Regulation for Cross-Border Commercial Surrogacy

Abstract

Commercial surrogacy is a private contract arrangement in which the surrogate mother receives compensation from the commissioning parent(s) “beyond the reimbursement of medical expenses.” The emergence of assisted reproductive technologies fueled the growth of commercial surrogacy into a multi-billion-dollar industry. The surrogacy business is not limited to geographical or legal boundaries thanks to “fertility tourism.” Every year, thousands of intended parents travel abroad to countries where commercial surrogacy is cheaper, easier, and legal. However, commercial surrogacy is having an identity crisis on a global level. While more countries are closing their borders to fertility tourism, even criminalizing their own citizens’ pursuit of a family, some maintain their no-policy policies. The diversity of regulatory approaches in national legislation, combined with the complete absence of international regulation, creates several legal challenges. This Note highlights some of the challenges, including surrogacy contract fraud by agencies and parentless as well as stateless children. This Note demonstrates the need for practical measures that international regulators can implement to overcome the historical challenges of legal harmonization of cross-border surrogacy.

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Ko, Baby Steps for Baby Business.

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