2.

Case analysis in terms of Deontology

In this case, four elements will be dug into to determine whether surrogacy is ethical.
1. Universal
Regarding universal, an action is right if you can will that the maxim of action becomes a moral law
applying to all people.
In particular, the maxim, in this case, could be “if you want to have a child but you have some
childbirth problems, relying on surrogacy.”
On the one hand, surrogacy is legal in many countries.  Because of the legalized allowance of
surrogacy, every infertile couple who wants to have a baby could legally do the same as the maxim.
Therefore, in countries permitting surrogacy, surrogacy could be considered as an ethical act
in terms of universalizing.
However, there is no international law concerning surrogacy and each nation has its legislation.
According to Deontology, any action that does not follow the law is wrong so that in countries
prohibiting surrogacy, surrogacy is wrong and cannot be conducted. Consequently, people in these
countries would not do the same as the maxim when they want to have a baby, otherwise, they
must look for another country where surrogation is permissible.
Therefore, the maxim “if you want to have a child but you have some childbirth problems, relying on
surrogacy” is not a moral law that could be applied in different countries.
2. Self
The second condition in Deontology is self, which is answering the question “Are you ready to
accept the act on yourself?”.
The answer is of course, if every effort has been made to have a child but there are still no positive
results, surrogacy could be the ideal solution. Surrogacy has brought hope and opportunity to many
infertile couples.
Therefore, surrogacy will be an ethical method in the self’s perspective.
3. Means
The means-end principle says that we must never treat anyone as tools for someone else’s purpose.
Related to surrogacy, infertile couples have to rely on someone else to give birth to their children.
Therefore, this becomes a motive supporting the traffickers to look for a surrogate for profit, turning
women into a tool for childbirth.
In the initial years that Thailand allowed surrogacy, Thai lawmakers did not foresee the negative side
of the problem, so that they did not set strict regulations on surrogacy. Thus, for many years,
Thailand has become the destination of a commercial pregnancy network. Thailand policymakers
then had to adjust the law. Commercial surrogacy is currently illegal in Thailand, and a sentence
could be up to 10 years in prison.
Therefore, surrogacy is unethical according to means because women are not tools to give birth.
4. Long-term societal impact
The final rule to consider whether an action is ethical is the long-term societal impact. The allowance
of surrogacy could create both positive and negative effects on individuals and society.
In the positive view, surrogacy is a humanistic act that contributes to a fair, democratic, and civilized
society.
 Infertile couples would have the opportunity to be parents
 The psychological burden of the family is relieved
 The possibility of a breakdown of the marriage could be reduced remarkably.
 About society, the born of a new generation would slow down the aging speed of population
and also solve the problem of labor shortage. 
On the other hand, surrogacy can lead to many ethical problems.
 In particular, if the procedures and conditions for surrogacy are not strict, this can be used to
make a profit, turning women and children into goods for sale.
 There have been many cases biological parents abandoning their children, the surrogates then
have to nurture the children by themselves.
 Regarding the surrogate mother, after nearly ten months of getting pregnant, affection for the
baby can arise.
 Regarding the child from surrogacy, there would be a complex relationship among mothers
and children, even dispute a long time later. Besides the birth parents, the child also has
another mother that born him.
Because long-term effects are inconsistent, it is uncertain whether the pros outweigh the cons, so that
surrogacy fails the final condition.
The conclusion can be inferred is that surrogacy is unethical related to deontology theory, due to the
dissatisfaction of three out of four elements.