Giving Away the 'Gift of Life': Surrogacy and the Canadian Assisted Human Reproduction Act

Abstract

Through the recently passed Assisted Human Reproduction Act, Canada has chosen to explicitly prohibit commercial surrogacy, while remaining silent on the issue of noncommercial or "altruistic" surrogacy. Although concerns about surrogacy arrangements tend to be raised only in relation to commercial surrogacy, many of the issues in question are opposite to the altruistic context as well. Indeed, the potential for exploitation may be even greater in noncommercial surrogacy. The author argues that the present framework of viewing altruistic surrogacy as morally acceptable is based on a western ideal of women's ability to make decisions freely in the family. This ideal is not only inaccurate in the western family model, but is particularly problematic for cultures in which patriarchal norms relegate women to vulnerable and relatively powerless positions within the family and society as a whole. Ultimately, the new Canadian law represents a harmful policy choice for women of all communities because it explicitly condemns one form of surrogacy, while at the same time implicitly approving another potentially more dangerous form.

Keywords: Assisted Human Reproduction Act, prohibit, commercial surrogacy, altruistic surrogacy, noncommercial surrogacy, exploitation, moral, acceptable, western ideals, women, Canadian law