In South Africa, surrogacy is recognized and regulated through Chapter 19 of the Children Act.
The Children’s Act accepts in vitro fertilization and section 1 of the Act defines the surgical contract as the agreement between the surrogate mother and the surrogate parent is that the child will be placed in the womb to procreate the child for the surrogate parent and in which the working mother agrees to deliver the such child to the working parent.
At the time of birth, or within a reasonable time thereafter, with the intention that the child concerned will be the legitimate child of the intended parent.
For a surrogacy agreement to be valid in South Africa, such agreement must be in writing and signed by the partner and the surrogate parent and at least one of the intended parents must be living and South Africa at the end of the agreement. ‘IT’S GOOD. The agreement must be approved by the Supreme Court.
When the intended r or surrogate mother is permanently married, the court may require the consent of the spouses or partners. The gamete of at least one of the parents is a legal requirement that the artificial fertilization of the surrogate mother can only be done within 18 months of the confirmation of the contract by the court. This highlights the fact that only cesarean section is accepted in South Africa.
Furthermore, Section 301 of the Children’s Law expressly prohibits commercial leasing, and only the representative’s compensation is limited to the original cost of insemination; pregnancy; childbirth; loss of income from the mother who turns away as a result of giving birth; and pregnancy-related coverage. Claims have been made to pay those authorized under the Surrogacy Agreement and Ex Parte HP & Others. Violation of this law is punishable by imprisonment for up to ten years or both.
The rights of the birth mother are protected in South Africa, as the birth mother has the right to terminate the contract within six months of the birth of the child by submitting a notice to the court. Where the court has found that the surrogate voluntarily terminated the contract, the court will terminate the contract and the surrogate will not be liable to the employer.
The surrogate mother also has the right to terminate the pregnancy before the child is born, but she must notify the intended parents, the termination of which terminates the contract of surrogacy with the surrogate mother without incurring any costs to the parents.
When a surrogate mother who has terminated a temporary contract does not have a partner, the surrogate father must share parental responsibility with the surrogate mother. This position has been criticized as contrary to the termination of the rights of the parents who provide services by providing services to the parents who provide services.
Regarding the legal status of the child, a child born through a surrogacy agreement acquires the legal status of the child of the intended parent through birth.
The law protects the rights of the parents to employ by forcing the birth mother to deliver the child to the parents to employ within a reasonable time after the birth of the child. Therefore, this article of law provides full parental responsibility and intended parents. However, this provision is subject to sections 298 and 299 of the Children’s Act, as mentioned above.
Although the basic law governing abortion in South Africa appears to allow couples or infertile parents to have their children, the law appears to – protect the rights of the mother giving birth and the child born.
There seems to be no equal protection for the right to intended parents. Additionally, the law does not provide compensation for surrogate parents in situations where the surrogate chooses to terminate the contract but chooses to continue the pregnancy. It is important to protect the rights of working parents so that surrogacy does not make them vulnerable.
Surrogate parents deserve the right to be free from the indignity of being deprived of the child entirely by the surrogate mother’s absolute discretion. The law may need to be revised to balance the surrogate’s reproductive rights against the contractual rights of the surrogate.
Reference:
http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1996-20962018000200009
Ravi Sharma is a self-motivated, successful entrepreneur and has a solid experience in the fertility segment. and he is the director at ARTbaby Global (ARThealthcare). He is a pharmacy graduate with post-graduation in business administration and has 14 years of rich experience in the field of infertility segment. He loves to write about IVF, Surrogacy, and other ART (assisted reproductive technology) news, issues, and updates. He is a Pharmacy graduate (B. Pharm) and M.B.A (marketing).
His most recent success includes the successful launch of the medical tourism company, ARTbaby, which offers treatment options for infertility, egg donation, and surrogacy. He likes spending time with his family and writing about various aspects of IVF surrogacy and donating eggs.