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