Beyond Altruism: A Case for Compensated Surrogate Motherhood

Abstract

Commercial surrogacy is prohibited in many countries, and we think there are good reasons why it should remain so. Arranging surrogacy according to the norms of the free market often gives rise to exploitation of the surrogate mother, a violation of her right to participate in medical decision-making, as well as practices that endanger the health and welfare of the surrogate as well as the intended child. However, we argue that these arguments against a fully commercialized, profitdriven form of surrogacy do not extend to all forms of compensated surrogacy. In particular, we argue that fairness requires that surrogates be compensated for their labor as well as the risks they undertake. We are therefore opposed to unpaid or altruistic surrogacy. In order to safeguard against the risk of exploitation and other harmful and unethical practices we argue in favor of organizing surrogacy along the norms of professions such as nursing and teaching. This would involve establishing a professional body, which will be charged with the task of regulating fees, licensing and monitoring clinics that offer surrogacy services, and screening and registering surrogates.