Surrogate mother. Surrogate mother: rights of surrogate mothers, prices What does a surrogate mother mean

If you are interested in the topic of surrogate motherhood, then you need to think a thousand times before deciding to take such a step. Not all women (surrogate mothers) are suitable for such a role. What are the nuances of this procedure, and what do you need to know about surrogate motherhood?

What is surrogacy?

Surrogate motherhood is an assisted reproductive technology that involves artificial insemination, in which a woman (a surrogate mother) consents to the fertilization and bearing of a child biologically alien to her. That is, genetically the child will not have any relation to the surrogate mother, she only bears someone else's child. A surrogate mother is fertilized with a fertilized egg, where the father's spermatozoa are used as spermatozoa, and the mother's egg cell.

So, the legislation of Russia in this regard says that a surrogate mother must be between twenty and thirty-five years old. In addition, the surrogate mother must have no more than one child. If she is married, then the consent of the second half is a prerequisite. It is quite natural to have a certificate confirming the absence of any psychological and other hereditary diseases. In particular, in order to obtain the necessary documents from the hospital, it is necessary to pass a number of tests - fluorography, urinalysis, as well as undergo a therapeutic and gynecological examination, etc.

A lot also depends on the parents-customers, who can often impose certain requirements on the future surrogate mother: appearance, place of residence, education, etc. At the same time, all desires on the part of the “customer” are purely subjective. It is very important for real biological parents that the surrogate mother is correct and perfect in every way.

If you have close and dear people, then discuss this step with them as well. If you have your own child and close relatives, then it will be very difficult for them to explain why you recently had a stomach, and today it is gone, and there is no baby.

It is also necessary to assess the state of health, because pregnancy is still a serious test. As for recovery after childbirth, this mission is also very responsible. At the same time, one should not be surprised if most of the funds will then be spent on treatment.

The ethical problems of surrogate motherhood lie in the condemnation of society, and in the vast majority of cases of society - from the side of the surrogate mother. A surrogate mother can be condemned and there is a high chance that she will be misunderstood by society. In addition, the attitude of the church towards surrogate motherhood is negative.

Pros and Cons of Surrogacy

For future parents, surrogacy is a chance to have a long-awaited child, even if not in the traditional way, but, nevertheless, they will be considered biological parents. As for the negative points, they consist only in the wrong choice of a surrogate mother and the fact that surrogate motherhood is a rather expensive procedure.

For a surrogate mother, this is a great way to earn quite a lot of money, and besides, as for the moral component, this is a rather generous thing to help people find their cherished happiness. Of the minuses, it is worth noting that you need to endure the child, and after his birth you will part with him forever. Someone can initially set themselves up for this, but someone can do it with great difficulty, and then, if possible.

To date, there are a large number of companies providing services for organizing the process of surrogate motherhood. If you need a 100% option, then you should contact a company that selects surrogate mothers and formalizes contractual relations. In this case, you can count on standard expenses, but, accordingly, the legal purity of the transaction will be guaranteed.

Remember that surrogate motherhood is a responsible step, before which it is necessary to weigh all the pros and cons, once and for all deciding for yourself the importance of such an event. In the pursuit of money, a surrogate mother can be traumatized for life, knowing that she has a child with whom she cannot be.

Surrogacy is a reproductive technology in which a woman (a surrogate mother) voluntarily bears a child that is genetically alien to her, who will later be given to her genetic parents for upbringing.

Moral and ethical aspects

Surrogacy is still the subject of heated debate: there are both ardent opponents and defenders of this method of reproductive technology. In many countries, surrogate motherhood is banned, the church also expresses a negative opinion, based on the unnaturalness of the birth of a child, immorality, violation of the sanctity of the family.

However, it is enough to recall the frightening figures: according to the latest data in Russia, almost 6 million couples for various reasons are and cannot count on. For them, surrogacy may be the only chance to experience the happiness of motherhood and fatherhood.

important This procedure should be approached seriously, without making a decision on emotions (this applies to both genetic parents and a surrogate mother). You should prepare yourself in advance, especially psychologically.

Many women, preparing to endure and give birth to someone else's child, believe that they can part with him without any problems, but subsequently experience severe psychological trauma. It is not easy for a genetic mother either: many of them, looking at the growing belly of a surrogate mother, perceive themselves as inferior, unable to fulfill the main female role.

After the birth of a child, genetic parents may have a feeling that their baby is still a stranger, the process of getting used to the new status of parents slows down significantly. Subsequently, the couple may have a question about the psychological adaptation of the child: is it worth informing him about the intricacies of his birth, whether to leave the possibility of his communication with a surrogate mother.

For any problems, you should not solve them on your own, remaining alone with heavy thoughts. In many centers dealing with reproductive technologies, there are always qualified psychologists and psychotherapists who will provide you with the necessary assistance.

It should be remembered that any problems can be gradually solved, and the result of surrogate motherhood will be great happiness to hold your long-awaited baby in your arms.

Legal aspects

According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, surrogate motherhood is a legal procedure and is regulated by the Family Code, Federal Law 143-FZ "On acts of civil status", Fundamentals of the Legislation of the Russian Federation in the field of protecting the health of citizens and Order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation No. 67.

Despite the legal support of the state, surrogate motherhood is full of "pitfalls". The main problem is that legally the mother of the child is the woman who gave birth to him. As soon as the surrogate mother after the birth signs the official paper on the abandonment of the child, the genetic parents are assigned official status. In this case, fraud situations often arise when a surrogate mother begins to blackmail biological parents, refusing to give them a newborn. To avoid such situations, it is strongly not recommended to independently search for surrogate mothers through the Internet and other announcements. It is optimal to contact special agencies with experience and good legal support.

Price

information It is impossible to unambiguously name the exact price of surrogate motherhood, the final cost of the service may depend on many factors.

To avoid possible material problems, you should immediately discuss all the conditions and draw up an agreement.

Usually, genetic parents pay for the following services:

Compensation for all and procedures for the subsequent management of pregnancy and childbirth;
Monthly maintenance of a surrogate mother during pregnancy(at least $200 per month);
Renting a surrogate mother if she lives in another city, and genetic parents want to constantly monitor the course of pregnancy;
wage compensation, if the genetic parents insist on the dismissal of the surrogate mother;
Compensation after the birth of a child(the amount fluctuates considerably: according to average data in Russia, from 10,000 to 45,000 dollars).

Carrying out the procedure

This procedure consists of several stages:

Preparatory: selection of a surrogate mother and her thorough examination;
Synchronization of surrogate and genetic mothers;

Selection and examination of a surrogate mother

The selection of a surrogate mother is carried out carefully based on the following requirements:

Voluntary participation of a surrogate mother;
from 20 to 35 years;
Having at least one healthy child of their own;
Absence of severe chronic diseases;
No mental health issues.

After the conclusion of the contract, the surrogate mother must undergo (at the expense of genetic parents):

General blood analysis;
General urine analysis;
Blood chemistry;
Coagulogram of venous blood;
Determination of blood group and Rh factor;
Blood test for syphilis, HIV infection, hepatitis B and C;
Screening for infections
Fluorography;
Cytological examination of the cervix;
Smears for flora from the cervical canal, urethra, determination of the degree of purity of the vagina;
Consultation of the therapist and psychiatrist.

If all and consultations of specialists do not reveal contraindications to pregnancy, proceed to the next steps.

Synchronization of menstrual cycles

The main goal of this stage is to prepare the inner layer of the uterus - the endometrium of the surrogate mother for the upcoming pregnancy. The endometrium must have sufficient thickness for the full implantation of the embryo. It is important that the terms coincide completely: the uterus is prepared at the same time and the embryos are received from the genetic mother. To do this, the endometrium of a surrogate mother is prepared by introducing under ultrasound control and examining the hormonal background.

IVF procedure

In surrogate motherhood, it consists of several stages:

superovulation induction;
Puncture of follicles;
Embryo transfer;
Evaluation of results.

Examination of genetic parents

Examination for a man:

sexually transmitted;
for HIV infection, syphilis, hepatitis B and C;
Andrologist's consultation;

Examination for a woman:

Obstetrician-gynecologist consultation, gynecological examination;
Smears of secretions from the genital tract and urethra on the flora, assessment of the degree of purity of the vagina;
Ultrasound of the pelvic organs;
Complete blood count, general urinalysis, biochemical blood test, venous blood coagulogram;
for syphilis, HIV infection, hepatitis B and C;
sexually transmitted;
Therapist's consultation.

superovulation induction

This stage begins immediately after the completion of the examination of the genetic mother.

The purpose of stimulation is to mature several eggs at the same time to increase the possibility of pregnancy. To do this, in the first phase of the cycle, women are injected with hormonal drugs that cause the growth of several dominant follicles. Stimulation of the ovaries is strictly carried out under the control of the hormonal background and. The induction is completed when the follicles reach 17 mm, the endometrium - at least 8 mm.

At the end of the procedure, the genetic mother is injected with chorionic gonadotropin, which stimulates the release of the egg from the follicle - (on average, it occurs 35 hours after the administration of the drug).

Follicle puncture

Follicle puncture is carried out no later than 40 hours after the administration of hCG. The follicles are pierced with a special needle under ultrasound control in order to obtain an egg. Most often, the puncture is carried out through the vagina, less often it is possible to carry out the procedure laparoscopically through the anterior abdominal wall.

remember Before the procedure, a woman should not eat food for at least 8 hours and must sanitize the vagina to prevent possible infectious complications.

Within a few days after the puncture of the follicles, a woman may be disturbed by minor pains in the lower abdomen.

Fertilization

After receiving the egg by puncture of the follicles, the next stage begins: the spermatozoa of the genetic father in a test tube. A man must donate sperm in advance (before the puncture) only by masturbation after 3-5 days of sexual abstinence.

The resulting liquid from the follicles with the eggs contained in it is placed on a special bowl (Petri dish), sperm is added and placed in an incubator, where optimal conditions for fertilization are maintained. The result can be assessed after 12 hours.

The fertilized egg is then placed on a special medium, where the development of the embryo will subsequently take place. This process is necessarily controlled under a microscope: in the normal course of embryo development, they proceed to the next stage - transfer to the uterus of a surrogate mother.

Embryo transfer

It is carried out on a gynecological chair. The doctor injects the fluid containing the embryos into the uterine cavity through a catheter. Most often, the procedure is performed through the cervix, which is optimal: this technique does not require anesthesia, because. is painless. In rare cases, embryos are introduced through the wall of the uterus (via vaginal access or through the anterior abdominal wall).

As a rule, no more than 3 embryos are transferred at the same time, with reduced implantation, more can be introduced.

After the procedure, the surrogate mother must take progesterone-based hormonal preparations to increase the chances of successful embryo attachment.

Within 2-3 weeks, a woman should give up sexual intercourse and heavy physical exertion.

Evaluation of IVF results

Embryo transfer is carried out on the 17th day of the menstrual cycle. Confirmation of a successful pregnancy by determining hCG is possible 2 weeks after the procedure, by ultrasound - after 3 weeks.

After confirming the fact of pregnancy, the surrogate mother must be under the constant supervision of doctors.

What it is?

As you know, about 20% of couples in the world cannot have children due to infertility. The data on how many of them decide to resort to the help of a surrogate mother are very contradictory.

The secret of the birth of such children is carefully guarded by both the parents themselves and surrogate mothers. As a rule, a woman has to "depict" pregnancy, take maternity leave, etc. There are no laws regulating this situation. According to some reports, at the moment there are about 250,000 children born by surrogate mothers in the world. The world's first child from a surrogate mother was born in 1989 in the UK. Doctors took an egg from an infertile woman, fertilized it "in vitro" and transferred the embryo into the uterus of another woman. Nine months later, the baby was born safely and was passed on to his genetic mother. On the territory of the CIS, the program of "surrogate motherhood" has been used since 1995.

How it's done?

The program of "surrogate motherhood" gives a chance to become mothers to women who have had their uterus removed or have serious contraindications for pregnancy. The eggs and sperm of an infertile couple are usually used.

First, a preliminary synchronization of the menstrual cycles of both women is carried out, then the removal and fertilization of the egg outside the body. After this procedure, the "ready" embryo is transferred to the uterus of a surrogate mother, who bears the fetus, and after birth passes it on to genetic parents.

Statistics show that the probability of pregnancy in such cases is almost the same as with the standard IVF method, and even higher (according to some reports, up to 70% of cases). Interestingly, the survival rate of embryos in the uterus of a surrogate mother is much higher compared to IVF.

"Surrogate" pregnancy is very often multiple, so it is characterized by a high degree of risk. In addition, healthy surrogate mothers who have passed the selection have a chance of an ectopic pregnancy.

Pros and Cons of Surrogacy

Against…

Due to the unusual nature of this method of solving the problem of childlessness, the attitude of society towards it cannot be called unambiguous.

To opponents of the method, it seems to be a kind of “trade” in children, since only very wealthy people can afford to hire a woman to bear their offspring. On the other hand, there are fears that motherhood as a contractual job may become a way of profit for an immoral category of citizens.

This method is actively opposed by representatives of feminism, who believe that its use will contribute to the exploitation of women.

Another big disadvantage is the well-known fact that most surrogate mothers experience extreme stress due to the need to part with the child after nine months of the closest physiological and emotional connection with him (even if at first it seemed to the woman that she would be able to abandon the child without any problems ).

And, finally, most religious denominations see in surrogate motherhood an inhumane, immoral tendency that undermines the sanctity of marriage and family (not to mention the same possibility of reducing “extra” embryos as with the standard IVF method).

Supporters of surrogate motherhood appeal to the fact that for a family childless due to the wife's incurable infertility, this is the only way to "have" a desired child who will be genetically "one's own" for her husband. For them, the possibility of the birth of such children is devoid of mercantile coloring, rather, on the contrary, it is a deeply human act of love and cooperation.

As for the possible exploitation of women, here, too, the supporters of this method have something to object to. In their opinion, a woman who voluntarily decides to become a surrogate mother receives sufficient material compensation for performing this role. In addition, she can also feel moral satisfaction from the good she has done for specific people and society as a whole.

Of course, the supporters of this method do not deny that the main risk in this case is related to the health and well-being of the surrogate mother. Nevertheless, they assure that she, being an adult and sane person, is able to assess the degree of this risk and consciously take this step.

But what about the child?

A child can inherit genetic defects from a surrogate mother only if the egg of the surrogate mother herself is used. As in the case of any other pregnancy, some of these defects, unfortunately, cannot be detected by modern methods. The fetus can also be significantly harmed in the event of an unexpected illness or simply due to the carelessness of the surrogate mother - for example, if she drinks alcohol, drugs or eats poorly during pregnancy.

In addition to medical problems, there is also a psychological side to the issue. There is no guarantee that the child will forever remain in the dark about the way he was born. If for some reason he finds out that it was not his mother who gave birth to him, but another woman, will this not become a source of problems or painful experiences for him? Special problems may arise when relatives or just people very close to the family become surrogate mothers (which happens quite often). In this case, contact with them continues with the baby even after his birth.

It is difficult to predict how all this may affect the child in the future. The psychological trauma associated with such an unusual birth rarely goes unnoticed for both his parents and the surrogate mother.

Be that as it may, surrogacy is becoming more common in many countries of the world, because there will always be women who cannot get pregnant, and women who are able and willing to help them in the birth of a baby. In any case, genetically, your child will always be much closer and dearer than the adopted one. It is impossible to blame a woman for her desperate desire to become a mother, and if this method is able to make someone happy, then it probably has a right to exist.

Legal advice

In many countries of the world, the surrogate motherhood program is prohibited, in particular, for religious reasons. In Russia, such a ban does not exist, and the legal procedure for this action is fixed in the Family Code. On the other hand, in our country there are no clear laws regulating the issues of surrogate pregnancy, and certain articles of the Family Code in no way protect either party from the bad faith of the other.

The implementation of this program in practice is quite difficult at all its stages. In this situation, several people are involved: genetic parents and a surrogate mother. Both parties agree in writing to the procedure, but this decision is subject to change. The fact is that under existing legislation, the woman who carried and gave birth to him, that is, the surrogate mother, has the priority right to decide the fate of the child.

According to this law, a woman can keep the child to herself, and it will be impossible to change this situation. The rights of genetic parents are recognized only after the refusal of the surrogate mother.

On the other hand, the reverse situation is also possible: for example, the “customers” changed their minds about having a common child, and the pregnancy that has already occurred is forced to be terminated.

In some reproduction centers, an infertile couple may be offered a candidate for a surrogate mother, but in practice, most often, future parents find such a woman themselves. A contract is concluded with a potential surrogate mother, which must be certified by a notary. This will allow both parties to at least somehow insure themselves in case of possible problems. It is desirable that a person who enjoys the trust and respect of the future surrogate mother be present at the conclusion of the contract - this will give an additional guarantee that she will fulfill her obligations.

And one more thing about responsibility. The contract must necessarily include a clause on penalties in case of unfair performance of obligations assumed by both parties. Lawyers recommend to paint this item according to the degree of increasing responsibility for certain shortcomings.

By the way, recently the practice of entrusting the role of a surrogate mother to a relative or closest friend of the couple has become widespread. This not only gives a certain guarantee of compliance with the terms of the contract, but also, as a rule, significantly reduces the cost of surrogacy.

In order to have fewer problems with finding, concluding a contract, managing pregnancy and safely transferring the child to parents, experts advise adhering to the following recommendations.

Try to establish a purely human relationship with the surrogate mother, even if this woman is not very attractive to you. Do not forget that this is a person who can and is ready to make you happy. Treat her with due respect. Try to mentally imagine yourself in her place, feel what happens to a woman during pregnancy - this will help your rapprochement.

Do not insist on the woman's complete rejection of her usual environment - this will support the pregnant woman in her position. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for a future surrogate mother to be searched for in an ecologically clean region (for example, in a village) and, paying her an amount that ensures a comfortable existence for a certain time, they literally put her under house arrest. At the same time, future parents impose on a woman strict adherence to the regimen, diet, stop sexual contacts and even meetings with relatives.

When choosing a surrogate mother, one should pay special attention to her psychological characteristics. Hysterical character traits, a tendency to depression or fits of anger reduce the chances of a correct pregnancy and can create problems in the transfer of the child to future parents. The future of the newborn, his mental and physical health depends on how carefully the pregnancy will be “nurtured”.

If you decide to use the help of a surrogate mother, you should understand that in our time it is difficult to find a truly healthy woman. According to statistics, about half of women of childbearing age have at least minor health problems. It is impossible to completely exclude the exacerbation of the identified chronic pathology or the emergence of a new disease as a result of a decrease in immunity during pregnancy. It is desirable that a woman preparing to become a surrogate mother be under the age of 35 and have at least one healthy child.

It should also be borne in mind that the woman you have chosen may have real maternal feelings towards the child she bears. In this case, it will be very difficult for her to give it to genetic parents.

"Not the mother that gave birth, but the one that raised" - says folk wisdom. It seems that humanity has decided to follow it. People have come up with a new form of motherhood - surrogacy. Unusual phrase. Many, obviously, cuts the ear. And yet - appears in the mass of scandals.

The United States is now watching the last and loudest of them with the liveliest interest (the newspaper wrote about this on August 22 of this year). "The case of the surrogate mother and the unborn twins" - this is how the process was dubbed. A young English woman, Helen Bisley, has agreed to carry and give birth to a child for an American couple who already have a son. It was recently revealed that Beasley is carrying not one, but two babies. The parents, who "ordered" only one, demanded that she get rid of the second, that is, to have an abortion. To this Helen responded with a decisive refusal and almost terminated the contract. She prefers to give birth to both twins and find foster parents for them.

The case of Helen Beasley is not unique. There are probably more than one and a half thousand surrogate mothers on earth. When the marriage of two loving people is hopelessly fruitless, when the spouses are in despair, they have only one thing left to do: find a young healthy woman, ask her: “Give us a baby!”, pay her money, and she will become just an incubator for someone else’s fetus for nine months, and give birth to a child that is not her own. She is the one who is called a surrogate mother. Once upon a time, this was an absolutely unrealizable fantasy. Some consider it a sin. The Church condemns. And the genetic scientist probably feels like God.

This method of procreation is based on two things: in vitro fertilization (it is also in vitro fertilization - IVF) and an agreement between biological parents and a woman - a mother substitute. In other words, genetic material plus order. The main figure here is the female incubator. And yet - a lot of problems: legal, medical, religious, moral.

background

Research into artificial insemination began in the 1950s. And on July 25, 1978, Louise Brown was born in England, the first child not conceived in the mother's body. In 1979, in Melbourne, Louise had a "brother in the method." In the early 90s. A new era is dawning in the treatment of infertility. With the help of cell engineering, doctors began to actively influence the fertilization process itself.

This method has gone from a sensation to a routine medical procedure. The essence of the process is as follows: the egg is fertilized with sperm outside the mother's body under special conditions, stored for some time in an incubator, where it turns into an embryo - the embryo of a future person, then injected into the uterus, or implanted. Further - according to tradition: pregnancy, childbirth. The egg may belong to the expectant mother, or it may be a donor. Just like sperm: either from a husband, or from a sperm bank, from another man.

The success of IVF depends on many factors: the age of the spouses, the condition of the reproductive organs, the general condition of the body, the very cause of infertility. But it is rather difficult to accurately estimate the chances in any case. On average, the effectiveness of the program is usually not higher than 30%.

Let's try it ourselves first

Doctors generally say that now every tenth couple in the world is not able to produce offspring. Rather, they are not able to produce offspring in the usual, natural, natural way.

Some time ago, immediately after the sensational wedding of one not very young Russian pop singer (she was then over forty) and a younger aspiring singer (he was not yet thirty), information appeared in the press that the star couple conceived a child in vitro. The rumors were not confirmed later, but the fact itself was quite possible. A woman over forty, even over forty-five, if health and circumstances permit, can become a mother if she is injected with an embryo from a test tube. Not naturally, of course. But IVF could help. More recently, the famous Italian doctor Severino Antonori, who is going to clone a person, helped a 63-year-old woman get pregnant in this way and give birth. She became the oldest mother in the world known to science.

And here is another completely real case that took place in Russia. 1995, Moscow. A young woman, a Muscovite of twenty-four years. We will not name her. She had been married for several years, and she and her husband both wanted a child. She underwent gynecological surgery. Doctors warned: "If you want to give birth, hurry up, don't delay: it probably won't get better." She tried to get pregnant, was treated by three doctors. The husband was checked - everything is normal, but there were no children. Finally decided on IVF. In August 1997, an egg was taken from her, and a sperm from her husband. The egg matured and two embryos were born in the incubator. They called her at work: "Urgent! Leave! We need to do replanting. Embryos can't wait!" I dropped everything and rushed to the clinic. The replanting was successful - both embryos were introduced into the uterus, after that - another day of hospitalization with almost no movement: God forbid something to move, break. Then the doctors said: if the embryos do not take root in the first 15 minutes, then everything is useless. She did not get accustomed. When she sobbed into the phone to the doctor, she was answered: "Well, what do you want? The probability is not more than 30%. And we, doctors, are not gods at all."

"Give us a baby!"

I couldn't give birth on my own. Now the failed mother will have to choose: either to be treated and continue to receive replants. or find a surrogate mother for your baby.

Surrogate motherhood is different, depending on the degree of infertility of the couple. "Traditional" or "partial" arrangements involve the use of a surrogate mother's egg and biological father's semen. In this way, for example, male homosexual couples also have children. With "full" ("gestational") surrogate motherhood, there is no genetic relationship between the surrogate mother and the child. An egg from biological parents is injected into the uterus of a surrogate mother. The surrogate mother must be a young woman, under 35 years old, and, of course, healthy. She must certainly have a family: a husband and at least two children. This is necessary for that. so that a woman has someone to transfer maternal feelings after parting with a newborn and thereby somewhat smooth out emotional experiences.

The technology of surrogate motherhood has existed for a little less than twenty years. During this time, about one and a half thousand children have already been born in the world in a similar way. In Russia, according to official statistics, there are no more than ten such children. On the territory of the CIS, the first baby appeared in Kharkov, where the mother gave birth to her own daughter with a congenital absence of the uterus. The child is already 6 years old.

All of them are mine

Helen Bisley, who was discussed at the very beginning, took root both implanted embryos. She is only pregnant with twins. And if she, a surrogate mother, refused to get rid of one of the children, then how difficult it must be for a real mother, who is carrying children conceived in a test tube, to decide on this.

A woman, not a surrogate mother, was once brought to one of the women's clinics in Mexico City, in whom seven embryos took root at once. A woman is unlikely to be able to bear seven - she will die of exhaustion. Even five people are hard to bear. What should she do? The doctors persuaded both her and her husband, shouting: "You must remove at least three, otherwise you will die! And they are all with you! Well, why did you start all this?" She shouted that it was not proper for a good Catholic woman to have an abortion. That sleep tried to get pregnant for too long, so that now it’s so easy to throw away her children, acquired with such difficulty, in the trash. "But not all of them!" the doctors insisted. "No matter how many there are, they are all mine!" was her answer. But a little more time passed, three fetuses were in the wrong position, from which they would have died even before birth. Then the mother agreed. Three embryos were removed, the rest she endured and gave birth.

Science and religion have never gotten along. And in this case - especially. However, talking about morality, morality and religiosity is more appropriate when a woman bears her children herself. As for surrogate motherhood, here we are talking primarily about a financial deal and maternal instinct, at least the majority believes so. Apparently, this is why Helen Beasley's sharp categorical refusal to have an abortion caused so much noise.

Market and Morality

The medical aspect has been resolved absolutely - technologically this can be done and is being done. But legal, moral and ethical problems are often insurmountable. Just like cloning, surrogacy provokes controversy, scandals and unprecedented lawsuits. In addition to the purely scientific thirst for knowledge, experiment and creation, which at all times inevitably faced public and church condemnation and distrust, such an enterprise involves a lot of money, because the procedure is not cheap. Add to this confidentiality, semi-legality (in some places it is generally prohibited by law), laboriousness, the risk of failure (after all, this is just an experiment) and a host of other legal and simply human nuances. So it turns out that in at least a third of cases, a scandal is inevitable.

Of course, test-tube conception and any experimentation with human genetic material turns children into a kind of commodity, creating a situation in which rich people can hire women to bear their offspring. At the same time, motherhood becomes a contractual job, in which, as in any business, the desire for personal gain prevails. So, surrogate motherhood is a market, business, commerce. But, according to one of our domestic lawyers, it makes no sense to prohibit surrogate motherhood by law. It will turn out the same as what happens when abortion is banned in any country. If it is not possible legally, they will be made underground, with dirty hands and a crochet hook, as a result, every third woman will die from peritonitis after such an operation. The same is true of surrogate motherhood: it is impossible by law - they will do it around.

The Church sees this as a dehumanizing, immoral trend that undermines the sanctity of marriage and the family. Even feminists around the world are divided on this practice. On the one hand, a free, informed decision to give birth to a child for someone can be seen as an exercise of the right to self-determination. On the other hand, it's like sexual exploitation.

However, for a childless family, this is the only way to get a child who will be genetically "their own" for a husband or wife. Such a procedure, which allows the birth of a desired child, is, in fact, not so different from adoption. May be. this is not about the commercialization of childbearing, but about a deeply human act of love and cooperation. This act is, of course, associated with potential dangers for the surrogate mother, but she is able to evaluate them in terms of money and can consciously take risks.

Due to the numerous moral, ethical and religious aspects of this issue, the national laws and policies of most countries restrict surrogate motherhood. In some states (France and Germany) it is completely prohibited. In other states, only commercial surrogacy agreements are prohibited and legal claims under such agreements are not allowed. These states include Canada, Israel, Great Britain, the state of Victoria (Australia), the states of New Hampshire and Virginia (USA). Finally, third countries restrict the use of reproductive technologies in connection with surrogate motherhood (Denmark, Norway, Sweden).

I agree to work as a mother substitute

The search for surrogate mothers takes place in different countries in different ways. In Russia, this is the business of the couple who wants to have a child. There is no "bank" of women ready to provide their services. (At least that's what doctors think.) But even in Russia there is access to foreign databases on surrogacy. In addition, calls are periodically heard in various centers of reproduction and gynecology, and women offer themselves as surrogate mothers.

Things are different in the USA. Site http://www. eggbank. corn/ is a huge database offering data on 300 egg donors.

One of the main problems of the surrogacy program is the psychological instability of a woman who has decided to become a surrogate mother. What prompted her to do this? If she is single and has a lot of financial problems, then the very fact of pregnancy will become additional stress for her - plus those that she already has. And often she psychologically breaks down, and by the time the child appears, the laws of nature affect - she begins to love the child. This feeling cannot be balanced or replaced by anything. Such women often refuse to give up the child. As a rule, legal proceedings on this issue that have taken place in the world are associated either with single women or with civil marriages, which, as a rule, do not inspire confidence in the stability of her marital status.

What can make a Russian woman become an incubator for someone else's fetus is understandable. Imagine, a young provincial woman will receive at least five thousand dollars for such a service, and for this money in some small Russian city you can arrange your life. Who would turn his tongue to condemn such a surrogate mother? Whoever does not know how the main part of the population lives in the Russian Federation, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.

By the law, against the law and outside the law

It is not surprising that with so many questions, a special commission of the American Society for the Fight against Infertility (1986) expressed serious ethical doubts about surrogacy, which "cannot be removed until sufficient data are obtained to assess the dangers and possible benefits of the procedure under discussion" .

Obviously, for some women who offer their services as surrogate mothers, the main incentive is money, and this may push them to provide false information about their health or life circumstances. There are cases when infertile couples, looking for a woman suitable for such a role, tried to persuade one of their relatives to agree to this. On the other hand, unscrupulous or not serious enough lawyers and doctors are sometimes so engrossed in the prospect of making good money on the selection of surrogate mothers that they are not able to act only in the interests of their clients. And yet, as hundreds of previously childless couples can testify, the benefits of this way of overcoming infertility are invaluable.

Be that as it may, the legislation in this area has not been developed so much that legal confusion arises everywhere and always, both here and abroad. At one time, all of America followed with keen interest the course of the Johnson v. Calvert lawsuit, which raised a lot of questions regarding surrogate motherhood in general. A couple who are childless due to the removal of Mrs. Calvert's uterus entered into an agreement with a young single nurse, Anna Johnson, for the service of a surrogate mother. For $ 10,000, the latter agreed to endure pregnancy with a fetus conceived when Mrs. Calvert's egg was fertilized with her husband's sperm. However, shortly before the birth, Mr. Calvert suddenly changed his mind and ... filed a lawsuit in a California state court to recognize Anna Johnson as the real mother of the child. Ultimately, the court did not satisfy this claim, stating that genetically this child is a descendant of the Calvert couple, and the surrogate mother, although she endured him for 40 long weeks, only played the role of a nanny to whom the parents entrusted their child for a while. However, not everyone agreed with the court's decision - millions of women who gave birth, who are familiar with the feeling of a new small life, believe that it is pregnancy and childbirth, and not the genetic material of germ cells, that make a woman a mother.

In general, surrogate motherhood is an inexhaustible source of all sorts of curiosities and confusions in the status of relatives. For example, if a woman carried a pregnancy with a fetus conceived from the egg of her own daughter, fertilized by the sperm of her son-in-law, then who is she to the born child - mother or grandmother? Or mother and grandmother at the same time? The history of reproduction knows many such cases.

In an international context, surrogate agreements will continue to be practiced, including between citizens of different countries, and disputes will arise that cannot be answered within existing legal prohibitions at the level of one country.

Me and my parents

Least of all in this case, as often happens, they think about the culprit of the whole enterprise - the child and his rights. First of all, a child can inherit genetic defects from a surrogate mother. And most importantly - the psychological adaptation of the child. If the child is explained (or he accidentally finds out) that it was not his mother who gave birth to him, but another woman, will there be any problems? And if the child sees this woman after his birth (this happens when the surrogate mother is a relative or a person close to the family), then how can this affect the child in the future?

In addition, the newborn may not be genetically related to either or even both of the parents. Any man and any mother will need the fortitude to come to terms with this. After all, then the father will have to raise his son, who was born thanks to the sperm of a strange man. Or a mother will raise a daughter born from the egg of a completely different woman. Somewhere there will be a woman who carried a child under her heart. belonging to others, and then took hormonal drugs for a long time to drown out the storm in the body, called maternal instinct. And a child conceived in a flask, matured in an incubator and born not to the one whom he calls mom and dad, will probably think for some time that adults are simply entertaining him with fairy tales about some kind of miracles. Well, if so.

as old as the world

The legend says the following. Prince Vardhamana, who received the honorary title of Mahavira (translated from Sanskrit, this means "great hero") was the founder of Jainism - a religion practiced to this day in India, the United States and other countries of the world. He lived in the 5th century BC. e. And the story of its origin miraculously predicts one of the methods of artificial human reproduction - the method of surrogate motherhood.

The fact is that the Great Hero decided to play a trick on the gods and be born in the wrong class in which he was supposed to, not among noble kshatriyas, but among humble brahmins. On earth, two women became pregnant at once: a Kshatriya and a Brahmin. The gods could not allow the Great Hero to be born from a Brahmin. Therefore, they had to resort to their superhuman abilities, while both women were sleeping, to change their babies in places. The fruit of a Kshatriya woman was put into the womb of a Brahmin woman and vice versa. So the Great Hero was born in a proper class. And both women, without knowing it, became surrogate mothers. They conceived on the same day, so by the time of transplantation, the embryos were the same age. This is exactly three lunar months, three lunar cycles.

But this is from the realm of legends. And the real history of mankind suggests that, in fact, the prototype of surrogate motherhood appeared several millennia before IVF was invented. Why else did institutions of concubines, kept women, harems, serf wives arise at one time? Man is programmed by nature to continue the race, and if it doesn’t work out in the simplest and most natural way, then you need to come up with others. If the wife of an Egyptian pharaoh could not have children or could not give birth to a son-heir, nothing and no one, and least of all - the queen herself, could not forbid the ruler to take a girl from a worthy family as a concubine and generously reward her so that she would give birth to a son to the royal couple.

So, apparently, surrogate motherhood is the same age as humanity, many of the best representatives of which were born in this way. So how should one treat surrogate motherhood - as a blessing or as a necessary evil? Religious, moral, moral, legal, ethical and scientific disputes around this will never subside. One thing is clear: surrogate motherhood is just a fact, it exists and, apparently, will not go anywhere from us now.

The surrogate mother must be a young woman, under 35 years old, and, of course, healthy. She must certainly have a family: both a husband and at least two children

According to medical statistics, about twenty percent of married couples cannot have children. That is why for such people the only way out of this situation is to adopt a child. It has been observed that embryos transplanted into the uterus of another woman take root much better. The probability that pregnancy will occur in this case is more than 30%. The "surrogate motherhood" program allows those women who have contraindications for carrying a pregnancy or whose uterus has been removed to have a child. In this case, the sperm and egg of the infertile couple are taken.

There are two types of surrogacy agreement, non-commercial or commercial. When you see an ad: I will become a surrogate mother, apparently a commercial option. In the case of commercial surrogacy, the surrogate mother may receive a fee or financial benefit. Non-commercial surrogacy does not provide for any material benefit or payment other than payment related to the pregnancy itself, such as medical care. In order for any problems to arise, the surrogate mother must conclude a special contract, which should contain the following items:

1. Payment for medical care.
2. Compensation for material losses in earnings.
3. Her place of residence during pregnancy.
4. Medical institution where artificial insemination will be carried out.
5. Consequences in the event of the birth of a handicapped child.
6. The rules necessary to comply with a surrogate mother for the birth of a healthy child.

If the surrogate mother wants to remain anonymous, then it is necessary to conclude an agreement:
1. Between a medical institution and a surrogate mother, in which artificial insemination and subsequent monitoring of the course of pregnancy will take place.
2. Between spouses-customers and this medical institution, where the birth of a surrogate mother will take place.

The new family code of the Russian Federation provides for two articles related to this problem. Article 51: “Persons who are married and have given written consent to the implantation of an egg in another woman for its further bearing, can be indicated as the parents of a child only if the woman who gave birth to the child consents. Article 52: "A married couple who has given permission for the implantation of an embryo to another woman is not entitled to dispute paternity or motherhood after the entry of parents in the birth record book based on these circumstances." In other words, the surrogate mother has the right to decide the fate of the child, and the situation is quite likely that the genetic parents may not receive the child. The inclusion of an obstetrician, who will later take delivery in the composition of the participants in the contract on surrogate motherhood, is necessary so that spouses who are unable to have children can receive all information about the state of health of the surrogate mother for the entire pregnancy.