Ethical Assessment of Monetary Relationship in Surrogacy

Aramesh, Kiyarash

Ethical Assessment of Monetary Relationship in Surrogacy

Author

Kiyarash Aramesh

Medical Ethics & History of Medicine Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: Surrogacy is defined as becoming pregnant and giving the infant to another couple as his or her commissioning parents. In commercial surrogacy, the surrogate mother accepts being surrogate for money. In Iran, nowadays, commercial surrogacy does exist. In this article, it is shown that commercial surrogacy is unethical. The arguments to be covered are: 1- Commercial surrogacy is against human dignity, 2- The nature of commercial surrogacy is exploitive because of high probability of coercion and because of impossibility of taking a valid consent from such women, especially in developing countries and among poor people, 3- Elimination of altruistic surrogacy, and 4- Worldwide partial consensus regarding banning commercial surrogacy. Conclusion: Although commercial surrogacy may have some benefits, it is too harmful to be accepted just because of such benefits. Surrogacy is ethical only if it is altruistic. Therefore, a committee composed of people without any conflict of interests should verify that the surrogate mother is a close relative or a friend of the commissioning parents and she has accepted being a surrogate without any coercion and that her consent is valid. In addition, special counseling should be available for the surrogate mother and the commissioning parents.

Keywords

Altruistic donation

exploitation

Human dignity

Monetary relationship

Surrogacy

Surrogate

ESHRE Task Force on Ethics and Law including, Shen-field F, Pennings G, Cohen J, Devroey P, de Wert G, Tarlatzis B. ESHRE Task Force on Ethics and Law 10: Surrogacy. Hum Reprod. 2005;20(10):2705-7.

نایب‌زاده عباس. بررسی حقوقی روشهای نوین باروری مصنوعی. مجمع علمی و فرهنگی مجد. تهران. چاپ اول 1380. صفحه: 612.

گرمارودی شیرین. بازاندیشی خویشاوندی. سخنی درباره رحم جایگزین در ایران. در: جمعی از نویسندگان. رحم جایگزین انتشارات سمت، تهران، 1386، صفحات: 301 تا 318.

Steinbock B. Surrogate motherhood as prenatal adop-tion. J Law Med Ethics. 1988;16(1-2):44-50.

Zargooshi J. Iranian Kidney Donors: Motivations and Relations with Recipients. J Urol. 2001;165:386-92.

Wilkinson S. The exploitation argument against comer-cial surrogacy. Bioethics. 2005;17(2):169-87.

Ciccarelli JC, Beckman LJ. Navigating rough waters: an overview of psychological aspects of surrogacy. J Soc Issues. 2005;61(1):21-43.

Chervenak FA, McCullough LB. Respect for the auto-nomy of the pregnant woman in surrogacy agreements: an elaboration of a fundamental ethical concern. Women Health Issues. 1991;1(3):143-4.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/interactivity/debate/story/2007/01/printable/070125_h_surrogatemum.shtml.

نتایج اولیه طرح بررسی اخلاقی پیوند کلیه در ایران. مجری: کیارش آرامش و میترا مهدوی مزده، که در مرکز تحقیقات اخلاق و تاریخ پزشکی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی تهران در حال انجام است. 1386.

رحیمی حبیب الله. مسوولیت مدنی ناشی از رحم جایگزین. در: جمعی از نویسندگان. رحم جایگزین انتشارات سمت، تهران، 1386، صفحات: 83- 361.

Reilly DR. Surrogate pregnancy: a guide for Canadian prenatal health care providers. CMAJ. 2007;176(4):479-81.

Appleton TC. Surrogacy ESHRE Monographs: Guide-lines for counseling in infertility. 2002;pp:37-8.

Volume 9, Issue 1
Spring 2008
Pages 36-42

XML

Article View 12

Journal of Reproduction & Infertility

Ethical Assessment of Monetary Relationship in Surrogacy

Volume 9, Issue 1Spring 2008Pages 36-42

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics

Volume 9, Issue 1
Spring 2008
Pages 36-42