Legal Arrangements For Intending Parents
Surrogacy is one woman carrying a pregnancy with the intention of being pregnant for someone else. Surrogacy in South Africa is strictly governed in terms of the new Children’s Act in compliance with South African law. It is important that legal arrangements for intending parents and the surrogate mother be done properly and according to South African law requirements.
Legal arrangements for intending parents require that:
- Intending parents are not discriminated against based on race, relationship status or sexual preference.
- Intending parents may not advertise for a surrogate mother’s services
- At least one of the intending parents must be domiciled in South Africa
- Intending parents must have been psychologically assessed as regards to them being fit and proper parents(the medical condition must be permanent and irreversible)
- Intending parents must have medical proof of the need for a surrogate mother
- The eggs and sperm of either one or both of the intending parents must be used for conception
While the new Children’s Act protects the rights of all parties involved, an important element is the arrangement 
between the surrogate mother and the intending parents. Legal arrangements for intending parents will mean the child is legally theirs when the child is born and they won’t have to adopt the child. The intending parents’ names will appear on the birth certificate.
While the surrogacy agreement will include matters such as the reimbursement of costs that directly relate to the surrogacy process, insurance and/or medical cover for the surrogacy period, and whether or not the pregnancy will proceed in the event of abnormality or deformity, it will also include legal arrangements for the intending parents.
These arrangements include actions in the event of one or both of the intending parents die during the pregnancy, whether or not the intending parents will attend the birth, and the involvement of the surrogate in the event of prematurity.
For more information on the legal arrangements for intending parents during a surrogacy, please contact Adele van der Walt Incorporated.
