Nadya Afiefa Putri 1102011189 B Class (Waiver Program, 3rd paper)

Surrogate Mother What is a surrogate mother? Surrogate mother is a woman who carries a child on behalf of another woman and then assigns her parental rights to that woman and the father. In order to make a decision to hire or become a surrogate mother requires a lot of thinking process. There are two types of surrogacy, traditional and gestational surrogacy. Traditional surrogacy means that the surrogate mother will be artificially inseminated with the sperm of the father. Therefore the surrogate mothers own egg will be used. The process involves putting the sperm in liquid nitrogen. The sperm collection is usually placed into uterus or fallopian tube for a better pregnancy result. On the other hand, gestational surrogacy is when eggs and sperm are extracted from the donors and fertilized (in vitro) and implanted into the uterus of the surrogate mother. Therefore the surrogate mother has no genetic ties to the offspring. There are a lot of test to be done in order for the gestational surrogacy to happen. The tests make sure that the pregnancy will be successful. The gestational surrogacy is an expensive procedure. By looking at those two types of surrogacy, becoming a surrogate mother requires an educated woman who knows about the consequences. Despite the complex process, in a country such as United States, surrogacy is legal. In Indonesia, the practice of surrogacy is illegal for now because there is no exact law about it yet. There are several laws that stated or have a connection with the illegalization of surrogacy. The first law that has a connection with the illegalization of surrogacy is article number 127 UU No. 36 Year 2009 about health issues. It stated that attempt pregnancy outside the natural way can only be done by married couples with legal provisions: fertilized egg is implanted in the womb of his wife, carried out by health personnel who have the expertise and authority to do so, and the process should be done at certain health care facilities. By looking at the law, it is obvious that the only legal way is the fertilized egg must be implanted in the womb

of the wife. That process is known as In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). The second law is article number 1338 KUHPer. It stated that an agreement is valid under four circumstances. The circumstances are agreement of the parties, the skill of the parties, the agreement must concern about a certain thing, and the process must be halal. It is known that, in 2006, the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI) have made a decision that surrogacy is haram. Therefore the Muslim in Indonesia believed that in our religion, surrogacy is illegal. The last point of view is about the rights of the child. They will have an identity crisis when they know that they are born from a surrogacy process. Article number 27 UU No. 23 Year 2002 about child protection stated that all that is done concerning the child must put the best interests of the child as a top priority. In conclusion, I do not agree with the practice of surrogacy. It is an extremely complex process. The process can be stressful and overwhelming. It can impact the relationship between the married couple and the surrogate mother herself. The biggest impact will be felt by the child when he/she grows up. Even though there is no exact law which stated about the illegalization of surrogacy, it is cleared from the laws I have mentioned, surrogacy is illegal in Indonesia. Also the fact that it is haram sealed it all. There are a lot of ways to have a child besides surrogacy. IVF can be an excellent replacement. We have to think before deciding something big like this. We must consider about the safety and feeling of all parties who are involved. To think about the long term side effects will help us later on.