Watch the video interview here: Gery gets interviewed by Cuatro.com News
Surrogacy contracts vary in each country, although they require the surrogate mother to follow certain rules and lifestyle habits. If the child is born with a serious problem, the intended parents are obligated to take care of the baby.
Ana Obregón, who became a mother through surrogacy at 68 years old, shared details of the process. The clauses in surrogacy contracts, where everything is included, vary by country and even by states in countries like the United States. In the US, mothers who have carried a child as a surrogate have claimed their right to keep the baby they gave birth to.
Surrogacy is not regulated the same way in every country. Does the surrogate mother have any right to decide after giving birth whether or not she wants to keep the child? This is generally excluded in cases where there is economic compensation. There are more circumstances and eventualities that are included in contracts, and these have been made accessible to ‘Cuatro al Día’.
In surrogacy contracts in Florida, the amounts that will be paid to the surrogate mother as the pregnancy progresses are specified. Additionally, it is specifically stated that this payment is not a purchase. The amounts paid vary depending on the country. If the surrogacy is altruistic, the amount paid is lower. However, agencies insist that they specifically seek out women who are not doing it out of necessity.
The contract also states that surrogates are obligated to follow medical recommendations, such as not smoking or drinking, not engaging in high-risk sports, or having contact with cats, due to the risk of toxoplasmosis. If the baby is harmed as a result of the surrogate not following these recommendations, she can be reported.
However, if the child is born with a serious problem, the intended parents are obligated to take care of the baby. Another circumstance is if there was a laboratory error and the child is not born with the genetic makeup of the intended parents, then they could reject the child. The surrogate mother can also decide to have an abortion within legal deadlines without compensation to the intended parents.
By contract, the surrogate mother renounces any right to the baby, but in some cases, there are deadlines after birth for the surrogate to decide whether or not to keep the child.
In Spain, where surrogacy is illegal, there have been over 2,500 children born through surrogacy who have been registered. However, experts insist that the law in Spain is insufficient to provide guarantees for these chidden. Gery gets interviewed by Cuatro.com News
