When Surrogacy Fails: Surrogate Mom Keeps Baby
Most of the time
surrogacy works out in the favor of all parties involved. The surrogate mother gets financial compensation as well as the experience of pregnancy and giving birth. The parents get the chance to have a child that they weren't able to have on their own. Sometimes the parties stay in touch and the child benefits from having extra loving adults in his/her life. Other times, the child is raised without the inclusion of the surrogate mother in what is usually a loving home by people who absolutely wanted the baby. It's normally a win-win-win situation.
But there are times when surrogacy fails. As was the case for a
Florida couple who recently lost a court judgment against a surrogate mother who decided in the end to keep the baby. The way that surrogacy works in the legal field is that the surrogate mother does retain the rights to the child until she has given up those rights as part of the surrogacy process. It isn't common, but it does happen that the surrogate mother falls in love with the baby during the pregnancy and decides not to give the child up. This causes obvious emotional pain to the parents expecting to raise the child.
The Florida couple is exploring their options for fighting the judge's decision. Although they understand that the surrogate mother has rights to the child, they also believe that the husband has rights as the biological father to the child. They are hoping to be able to convince the courts of his rights. Complications like these often give a bad name to surrogacy and deter parents from trying this route when
faced with fertility problems. However, these cases really are rare in comparison with the number of surrogacy situations that do work out in favor of everyone involved.
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Posted by Kathryn on 11/1/2007 7:39:28 AM
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