Overview of surrogacy

Abstract
Long has infertility been a grave concern for married couples, especially in recent
years, when medics have made remarkable progress through its ways in curing the
seemingly incurable illness. One of the most genuine medical inventions of the
century is surrogacy. Since its first successful case, surrogacy has received lots of
expectations to bring happiness to infertile couples. However, along with wishes
came true by this new reproductive method, surrogacy has brought about many
social issues relating to the morality of motherhood as well as the abuse of women
and children through trafficking. Therefore, in this report, ethical issues of
surrogacy will be analyzed based on several ethical theories.

Definition
Before discussing ethical sides of surrogacy, it is necessary to understand some
basic definitions relating to this issue.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, surrogacy can be defined as a
woman who carried an infant, after a successful herbal or artificial insemination, or
after an in vitro fertilization through the implementation of an embryo for an
infertile couple, based totally on a pre-pregnancy settlement, with the goal of
handing the child to the commissioning couple who acquire parental rights and
duties. Or simply defined by the Oxford dictionary, surrogacy is the practice of
giving birth to a baby for another person or couple, usually because they are unable
to have babies themselves.
In 2011, family courtroom of Australia gives a beneficial legal definition of the
practice as follow: “An arrangement wherein a woman (‘the surrogate mother’)
concurs to conceive an bear a child, which she intends to transfer to another or
others (the ‘commissioning couple’ or ‘commissioning husband’ and
‘commissioning couple’) upon the child’s birth.”
In order to have a more comprehensive understanding on the issue, other related
terms should also be clarified.
 Intended parent: This is the infertile couple who asked for surrogacy. Their
egg or sperm may be a part of the transferred embryo.
  Surrogate: This is the woman who will help the intended parent carry the
baby to term. Surrogates are usually from 21 to 35 years old. They must
have had a successful pregnancy and already have children. At times, they
are also mentioned as gestational carriers.
 Egg or Sperm Donor: In cases where the intended parent do not have
embryo, donated egg or sperm will be used to complete the embryo. Donors
can be from familiar people or anonymously through banks or clinics.
 In Virtro Fertilization: This is the medical process used to fertilize an egg
outside of a woman’s uterus. In surrogacy, a fertility specialist will collect
eggs and sperm from the intended parents (or from a donor), fertilize the egg
in a test tube and then implant this embryo into the surrogate’s uterus.
By understanding those terms, miscomprehension of the issue will be avoided and
ethical issues relating to it will be clearly analyzed in the following sections of the
report.

Applicants
Not everyone can use this reproductive method in order to give birth. According to
Article 95 of Law on Marriage and Family of Vietnam (2014), the surrogacy is
only allowed when all of the following conditions are fully met:
 Only married couples are allowed to ask for surrogacy (singles are not
allowed to get involved in surrogacy to avoid the commercializing eggs,
sperms and women and children trafficking).
 The wife is infertile even when interfered with modern reproductive
techniques.
 The married couple has not have any common children.
 The married couple has been advised medically, juridically, and
psychologically.
Article 95 also clarified the requirements for the surrogate:
 The surrogate must be not only among the couple’s relatives in three
generations at most, but also on the same hierarchical level. This
requirement is to avoid the commercialization of surrogacy and incestuous
acts.
 The surrogate must have given birth to at least one child and will play the
role of surrogate only once in a lifetime.
 The surrogate must be qualified to be able to surrogate by authorized
medical organizations.
  The surrogacy must have documental agreement of the surrogate’s husband
in case the surrogate has been married. This requirement is to prevent any
kinds of disagreement that might affect the surrogate’s marital happiness.
 The surrogate must have been advised medically, juridically, and
psychologically.
Vietnam’s government prohibits any kinds of surrogacy for the commercial
purpose. Any cases to violate the law will be prosecuted and sentenced at most 7
years in prison based on the Criminal Protocol (2017).

The very first case in Vietnam

In 2015, Tu Du Hospital has confirmed their first successful case of surrogacy, this
was also the first case of surrogacy in Vietnam. The intended parent was a couple
in Khanh Hoa Province, and have been married for seven years. The intended mom
was diagnosed with pediatric uterus, and does not have uterus. After this case,
many infertile couples have more hope to give birth to their child thanks to the
progressive moves of the medics and the allowance of the law.

Countries prohibited
In some countries (i.e. Austria, Germany, Italy, Finland, Hungary, Iceland,
Pakistan), surrogacy is not allowed by the legislation. Therefore, sanctions are
implemented for medical doctors who arrange a surrogacy for their patients or for
mediators who assist an infertile couple discover a surrogate.

Countries allowed
Surrogacy is legal and permitted by the local legislation (i.e. Russia, Greece, India
and Vietnam). However, when it comes to commercial surrogacy, law of countries
and states may differ greatly from each other because of many ethical issues that
might and have happened.