Surrogacy in the West: Giving Birth in the Shadow of the Law

The issue of surrogacy gains enormous attention by rapid increase of the surrogacy cases on national and international level. In the USA as well as in Europe, there are substantial differences between the states: in some states the surrogacy is completely prohibited, many states are deficient in relevant regulation while performing surrogacy arrangements and some states have regulated this procedure in detail. In the book the authors widely discuss the arguments pro et contra surrogacy and reviewed the relevant cases and court decisions. The cases of international surrogacy have raised serious debates in the court cases as well as in front of the ECHR. The refusal of some European countries to issue a birth certificate in the cases of surrogacy born child has been monitored through the scope of the art. 8 of the ECHR - right to private and family life. In the conclusions, the authors give specific proposals towards a regulation of the surrogacy and provide directions for model legislation on surrogate motherhood. According to this model, authors strongly recommend that surrogacy is performed under strict conditions ensuring highest level of protection of human rights and dignity.