The Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission are jointly running a consultation on surrogacy law, which proposes radical change. Discussed in the consultation are proposals to introduce commercial surrogacy and the ability for potential surrogates to advertise, both of which are currently illegal in the UK. Additionally, the consultation proposes removing the requirement for one intended parent to have a genetic link to the child - which creates the possibility of children being conceived for whom five individuals have a claim to parenthood.

The Consultation

SPUC has submitted a response to this consultation, calling out all surrogacy as unethical. In the UK, altruistic surrogacy is legal. The surrogate cannot advertise nor can she be paid a salary. One intended parent must have a genetic link to the child - i.e. must be a sperm donor or an egg donor. At the child’s birth, the surrogate is legally the child’s mother until the intended parents pursue a parental order. These new proposals would give surrogates the ability to advertise, and potentially be paid. The consultation also proposes that at birth, the intended parents should legally be considered the parents of the child.

The consultation merely mentions, and does not seriously examine, any ethical problems with surrogacy in general.

SPUC Response

In response to the consultation, SPUC seeks to re-address the serious ethical problems with surrogacy. It reads: "At its core, surrogacy treats pregnancy and childbirth as transactions where babies are objects of pre-planned exchange. It reduces the surrogate to her reproductive functions and treats the unborn child as a commodity. Commercial surrogacy, explored in some of the questions in this consultation, would further commodify both surrogate and child."

SPUC also raised concerns with ‘5-parent surrogacies’ more specifically, and the effects this may have on the child conceived:  "In practice, these ‘5-parent surrogacies’ do not only raise legal questions, but also raise emotional questions for the child as he/she grows up. While this consultation addresses the fact that a child, once grown, may desire to know who all relevant parties are, it does not adequately address how this set-up would affect the child psychologically."

Surrogacy also involves IVF and can put the surrogate at risk of feeling pressure to have an abortion - for example in the case the child is diagnosed with a disability in the womb. "Finally, this consultation barely considers potential disputes between intended parents and surrogates through the duration of pregnancy. Consider, for example, a pre-natal test that reveals a disability in the unborn child. If the intended parents no longer desire the child, would the surrogate feel compelled to have a termination? What alternative would she have - to parent the child herself? Or, perhaps, the relationship between the intended parents dissolves during the time of pregnancy. What will happen to the child in that instance?" The consultation only briefly and insufficiently examines these pressing questions and puts the unborn at risk.

The Alternative of Adoption

The SPUC submission to the consultation proposed an ethical alternative to abortion - adoption - saying, "there is, of course an ethical alternative for those who are unable to bear children; that is: adoption. While IVF and surrogacy are being pursued at every turn, we are disincentivising couples from pursuing this ethical alternative. Surrogacy artificially creates a child to fulfil an intended parent’s desire. Adoption provides a home for an existing child in need…Instead of pursuing the proposals of this consultation paper, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (Scotland) advocates the adoption of practices which support childless couples in ways which do not fragment maternity and harm future children and their parents."

Submissions for the consultation closed today, .