The law and ethics of surrogacy

Surrogacy is the making of an arrangement whereby a woman agrees to carry and give birth to a child (whether genetically related to her or not) on the understanding that when the child is born she will give up the child to the custody of others, so that it can become part of their family rather than of hers. This article will describe the legal response to such arrangements, some of the ethical difficulties that they can give rise to, and will attempt to suggest possible solutions to these difficulties.