Legal Surrogacy
The Legal Surrogacy Process.
Some time ago South African legislation didn’t really have any focal point on the matter of legal surrogacy; there where however a number of laws that did affect such a process including The Human Tissue Act 65 of 1983 and the Adoption Act 56 of 1998. This situation has changed though since the 1st of April, 2010, when the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 was promulgated which stipulated, in Chapter 19, that before the in-vitro fertilisation process could commence, the surrogacy agreement had to first be presented to the South African High Court. Only once the High Court has accepted the agreement as a legal and binding contract could the surrogacy process proceed.
One matter that could affect the legal surrogacy agreement is the genetic origin of the child. According to the Act the agreement will only be valid if the child is the result of the gametes used by both commissioning parents or, if that is not possible due to biological, medical or any other valid reason, the gamete of at least on commissioning parent. In cases where the gamete of the surrogate mother was used she will have the right, as genetic parent of the child concerned, to terminate the surrogate motherhood agreement by filing a written notice with the court. This will be followed by a hearing wherein it will confirmed that the agreement is terminated and that the surrogate mother understands the effect of her choice and that she has no means for liability towards the commissioning parents.
As there are various complexities that hold impact on a legal surrogacy agreement we suggest that you contact Adele van der Walt Attorneys. As expert attorneys on the matter of surrogacy they will be able to assist you during this delicate process to ensure that all goes to plan.
For more information on this subject, please give us a call at (SA) or e-mail us at susann@avdw.co.za
