Beyond altruism: A case for compensated surrogate motherhood

Commercial surrogacy is prohibited in many countries, and there are a number of convincing reasons why it should remain so. We accept the reasons, but argue that fairness requires that surrogates be compensated for their labour as well as the risks they undertake. It is a mistake to equate compensated surrogacy with commercial surrogacy. In order to safeguard against the risk of exploitation and other harmful and unethical practices, we propose organizing surrogacy along the lines of professions such as nursing and teaching. This would involve establishing a professional body, which will be charged with the task of regulating fees , licensing, and monitoring clinics that offer surrogacy services, and screening and registering surrogates. We think a similar model can be used in the case of live organ donation as well as gamete and embryo donation

Lessons from Havasupai Tribe v. Arizona State University Board of Regents: Recognizing Group, Cultural, and Dignitary Harms as Legitimate Risks Warranting Integration into Research Practice

... Markow expressed to Martin that she was also interested in studying the genetic underpinnings of schizophrenia among the tribe, but Martin informed her that the tribe would not be interested in participating in that area of study,maintaining that diabetes was to be the primary focus of the research. ... Tilousi shared her discovery with the tribe, and at a special Tribal Council meeting, the council issued a Banishment Order stating: "the Havasupai Tribe has demanded that ASU disclose to the Tribe all of its actions regarding Havasupai blood and stop all unauthorized experimentation on Havasupai blood, but ASU has failed to disclose to the Tribe any information about where ASU distributed the blood and the purposes for all research." ... While the IRB was likely unaware that Markow's research team had been collecting blood for an entire summer prior to any IRB approval and that the subjects provided consent because they believed the ASU team was solely conducting diabetes research, the Hart Report also found several inconsistencies between the research proposal and the actual data collection. ... To assess the risk of these first three harms and understand their significance prior to initiating any new research projects, researchers and institutions must examine the significance of biological materials and the implication that their misuse would have both to the individual subject and the entire tribe, including as the case was here, the misuse of the blood samples. ... Maintaining current legal policy vis-a-vis ownership of biologic materials will likely continue to result in spiritual harm to Native American individuals and tribes