| 释义 |
surrogacy
n. An arrangement in which a woman (“the carrying mother”) agrees to bear a child and to hand over that child, on birth, to another person or persons (“the commissioning parents”). The carrying mother may have been artificially inseminated with the sperm of the commissioning father or donated gametes from the commissioning parents may be used to create an embryo that is then carried to term by her. In the latter case, the carrying mother will be genetically unrelated to the child. Nevertheless, in both cases the carrying mother is deemed in law to be the mother of the child. The surrogacy arrangement is not contractually enforceable at law, and hence if the surrogate mother wishes to keep the child, the commissioning parents cannot force her to hand the child over. Where the child is handed over on birth the commissioning parents must take steps to become the legal parents. This they may do by applying to court for either an adoption order or, more commonly, a parental order under the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act 2008. The Surrogacy Arrangements Act 1985 prohibits commercial agencies from engaging women to act as surrogate mothers. Breach of the prohibition is punishable with a fine or three months’ imprisonment. Surrogate mothers and commissioning parents are exempt from liability. Advertising surrogacy services is similarly punishable. |