A lot of things has evolved in the lives of humans. Based on what I remember, in those days the only way for couples to have children is through the traditional way of sexual intercourse between male and a female. Despite this manner of procreation being a natural ability of all humans, due to health complications, we have couples who struggle to have children, it might be an issue with the woman or the man. In cases like this, the only option couples usually opt for is to try out another partner which usually leads polygamy.
As time goes, adoption of children became widely accepted but it never stopped there. As a result of the advancement of technology which has influenced every sector in the society, mankind now have access to tools to do things we never thought possible. Slow and steady, health complications that used to a big deal are becoming a thing of the past. Just like that we started hearing of a new method of child bearing called surrogacy.
This method of child bearing is a lot complex than it sounds but in the simple sense, surrogacy is a method of child bearing that involves a woman {surrogate mother} carrying pregnancy and giving birth of the child on behalf of the biological parents of the child. Which means the pregnancy was implanted in the surrogate mother and once the child is born, the child will be given to the parents of the child. Trying to explain it in the simple way possible without adding any scientific terms still, it sounds complex.
Before the whole action is carried out, there are lot of legal processing involved which includes contract and agreement to be signed by both the biological parents of the child and surrogate mother. This is to ensure specific boundaries in the agreement, with each party being aware of the right they are entitled to. Most importantly, the documents is meant to enlighten the surrogate mother about her level of involvement with child, she being just a carrier of the child and willingly giving up the child to the biological parents.
Which means once the child has been given birth to, the surrogate mother have no entitlement to the child and failure to comply, legal actions can be taken against the surrogate mother. Should the biological mother still have a say in the affairs of the child? Surrogacy comes in different forms but there are also cases when the surrogate mother is not just a carrier of the pregnancy but the biological mother of the child? Whatever the case might be, naturally "No contact" agreement is made between the surrogate mother and the parents to prevent such things from happening.
The involvement of the surrogate mother in the affairs of the child depends on what the contract and agreement allows, if there are no provisions for such right, legally - the surrogate mother won't have the right to get involved in the child life and forcefully trying to do so will definitely attract legal actions. I consider surrogacy to be a complex method of child bearing due to the level of complications involved but then, it can also serve as the only hope for some couples.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled Surrogacy rights in hive learners community.
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