Surrogacy Law
The Intricacies Of Surrogacy Law In South Africa
On the 1st of April, 2010, with the promulgation of the Children’s Act 38 of 2005, South Africa was given new laws surrounding the surrogacy process. The new surrogacy law provisions were put into place to regulate the process and protect all parties involved in the surrogacy agreement. Moreover, to ensure that the fairest possible outcome is always focused towards the child borne of a surrogacy arrangement.
Before the new laws were promulgated, surrogacy law in South Africa was somewhat vague and unregulated, often leading to abuse of the system. With the new laws, however, this is no longer the case. There are now firm requirements in place for all parties to a surrogacy agreement, and this closes any gap that may heretofore have been left open to abuse and ensures that the experience is a wholesome and fulfilling one for all parties, including the child borne of the agreement.
The provisions of South Africa’s new surrogacy law include detailed legislation pertaining to:
- The intending parents: both people in a partnership must agree to the surrogacy process and provide their permission.
- The surrogate mother: someone wishing to become a surrogate mother essentially does this as a selfless, altruistic service and there is no compensation whatsoever involved. The only monetary contributions to the surrogate mother are those covering her expenses directly related to the pregnancy and birth of the surrogate child.
- The genetic origin of the child: both of the intending parents are to provide their own reproductive cells (gametes) towards the process. This requirement is only waived if one of the parents can prove they are unable to provide their own gametes, and then the gametes from at least one of the parents are to be used.
- Surrogacy agreement: this is required to be properly drawn up and approved by the High Court of South Africa before the in vitro fertilisation process can begin.
Contact established surrogacy lawyers Adele van der Walt Incorporated for more information and advice on surrogacy law in South Africa and how you can start your own surrogacy process.
For more information on this subject, please give us a call at (SA) or e-mail us at susann@avdw.co.za
