Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Verdict

Publication Date

1-19-2016

Abstract

Media reports abound about a lawsuit filed by a woman in California against a man in Georgia who hired her to carry children for him as a surrogate. Now 20+ weeks pregnant with triplets, the woman has sued to avoid her obligations under the surrogacy agreement, claiming that the agreement is invalid and the statute that enables surrogacy in the state is unconstitutional.

There are some dark aspects to this case, to be sure, and the conflict between the surrogate and the intended father reveals some of the challenges that can plague an ill-considered surrogacy agreement. However, one bad situation tells us little about the general wisdom of using surrogacy as a form of creating parent-child relationships, and does not provide any basis upon which to argue against the legality of the practice. It would be a mistake—as it usually is—to draw too many conclusions from one situation, and an especially big mistake to make law from a hard case.

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