In Vitro Insemination
In Vitro Insemination And Surrogacy
When a couple discovers that they are unable to bear their own children, they are often, understandably, devastated. This discovery is just the beginning of a long road to parenthood, and these couples expend lots of time, energy and money in attempting as many forms of assisted reproductive technology (ART) as possible in order to conceive. Some of these include vitro fertilisation, or in vitro insemination, artificial insemination, embryo transfer and gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT).
Should it be the case, however, that a woman is not able to carry a baby to full term and/or give birth, then usually no number of assisted reproduction procedures will change this unfortunate fact. It is at this point that many prospective parents decide to investigate surrogacy by way of in vitro insemination. With the surrogacy laws in South Africa having changed on 1 April 2010, it is now required that reproductive cells (gametes) from both intending parents be used in the in vitro insemination process, unless one of the parents can show valid proof that this is not possible, in which case the gametes of at least one of the parents are used.
The route of using gametes of both of the prospective parents via in vitro insemination is obviously ideal, as the genetic material of the baby that is carried by a surrogate mother therefore belongs exclusively to the commissioning parents. In this instance, the surrogate mother is the altruistic ‘incubator’ that ensures the embryo grows healthy and strong until the newly born baby is handed over to its biological parents. With the new laws, it is also no longer necessary to undergo the entire legal adoptive process of a child who has been carried by a surrogate, and the new parents can delight in filling their names in on the birth certificate and being assured that the child is theirs from the moment he or she takes that very first breath.
If you are considering surrogacy via in vitro insemination, contact Adele van der Walt Attorneys for empathetic, expert legal advice on surrogacy in South Africa.
For more information on this subject, please give us a call at (SA) or e-mail us at susann@avdw.co.za
