Regulation of international surrogacy arrangements

In the past two decades, developments and research in the area of fertility treatment have progressed rapidly. This has resulted in various treatment options becoming available to infertile couples. One of them is the use of a surrogate mother where the female partner of a couple is unable to carry a child. An increasing number of childless Western couples travel to places like India, Eastern Europe and South America with the intention of hiring a surrogate mother.

These arrangements are completely unregulated, which has led to concern that surrogate mothers lack adequate legal protection. There is also a risk of a developing a "black market" in surrogacy that exploits women's emotional or financial needs.

This project will explore possible types of international regulation of surrogacy arrangements and present a draft international convention on aspects of surrogacy arrangements.