Surrogacy Law Issues
Surrogacy Law Issues In South Africa
When intended parents decide to enter into a surrogacy agreement, the last thing on their mind is the legal aspects surrounding the process. Surrogacy law issues play a major role in the success of a surrogacy agreement in South Africa.
This is mainly due to the new Children’s Act 38 of 2005 that came into effect on 1 April 2010. Fertility law falls under this new act and has affected the surrogacy law issues in this country. While intended parents, and even the surrogate mother, may view these legal aspects as frustrating, they are incredibly important in the whole surrogacy procedure.
Aspects affected by the new surrogacy law issues:
- The surrogate mother must have at least one living child.
- The surrogate mother must be domiciled in South Africa.
- A surrogacy contract must be ratified as part of the surrogacy agreement.
- The surrogate mother may not profit from the surrogacy agreement.
- A medical reason must exist for intended parents to proceed with the surrogacy route.
- The genes of at least one of the intended parents must be used in the conception.
- A court order relinquishing parental rights and responsibilities from the surrogate must be obtained before embryos are transferred into the surrogate through in vitro fertilisation.
The importance of legal representation regarding surrogacy law issues is outlined in Chapter 19 of the Children’s Act 38 of 2005:
Any surrogate motherhood agreement that does not comply with the provisions of this Act is invalid and any child born as a result of any action taken in execution of such an arrangement is for all purposes deemed to be the child of the woman that gave birth to that child.
For experienced legal advice associated with surrogacy law issues, please contact Adele van der Walt Incorporated.
For more information on this subject, please give us a call at (SA) or e-mail us at susann@avdw.co.za
