Definition of Surrogacy

At present, human fertilization is not only subject to the system of reproductionconventional, because in the last decades various medical techniques have been introduced that have revolutionized conception. One of the changes that have occurred is precisely surrogacy, also known by other names, such as surrogacy or surrogate mother.

What is this option?

Is a technique of assisted reproduction in which a woman accepts the gestation of a child from other biological parents. This technique has allowed many parents with fertility problems to have children and form a family.

At the same time, it allows homosexual couples of both sexes to have offspring or for both single men and women to also have children.

Those who choose this path have to follow a procedure:

1) contact a specialized clinic that selects women willing to have children for other people,

2) the clinic selects the egg and sperm donors to be fertilized in the surrogacy and

3) It is necessary to have the relevant legal advice, since surrogacy is subject to a contract between the pregnant woman and the person or couple who is going to receive the child.

A controversial option that is prohibited in some countries

In countries such as Spain, Germany, France or Switzerland the law prohibits this type of fertilization practices. Consequently, those who live in these countries have the need to travel to a territory foreigner where surrogacy is a legal practice. In some countries it is a totally legal technique, as is the case in Great Britain, Belgium or Portugal.

This technique is not well valued by everyone. For some, it is a way of trading with motherhood and, at the same time, it is an attack on the institution of marriage understood as a sacrament.

On the other hand, the detractors of surrogacy do not agree with this technique because it only favors those who have economic resources to pay for surrogacy

The fact that there are two mothers in the process is another issue that generates more controversy.

Those who defend this modality affirm that the traditional concept of family has changed in the society and it is not valid to reject surrogacy because it opposes the conventional model of family. Supporters of this technique emphasize the Liberty individual as a basic principle that must be imposed when forming a family.

Photo: Fotolia - Nastasia Froloff