Is Surrogate Motherhood Legal?
Surrogacy laws are extremely complicated. The laws surrounding the surrogate motherhood process, genetic parental rights, adoption of a surrogate baby, and the surrogate mother’s rights are in-depth and vary from state to state. Note that surrogacy is not legal in every state. The whole legality issue of surrogate motherhood is further complicated by the ongoing debate of whether any type of surrogacy should be legal. Some people say surrogacy should be illegal everywhere – a hard thing to hear for couples who are dreaming of a baby yet can’t successfully carry one on their own. The problem is that there’s a fine line. Many people have heard of the case of Baby M, the first major groundbreaking surrogacy case made public. The case of Baby M involved surrogate mother Mary Beth Whitehead who agreed to carry a child for a couple, the Sterns. After the baby was born, Whitehead changed her mind and an intense court case ensued. Whitehead and the other family had signed a contract and the ju
