Surrogacy and Adoption: A Case of Incompatibility

Abstract

This Article adds to the ongoing debate over surrogacy, and suggests that, as currently practiced, surrogate parenting is an attempt to create a new form of independent adoption and that such agreements should not be enforced to the extent that they are incompatible with legitimate and well thought-out public policies expressed in state adoption statutes. Adoption is the method by which the state attempts to provide a suitable home for children whose biological parents are unable or unwilling to care for them. Because it results in a permanent severing of the legal ties between a child and his or her biological parents, adoption is strictly regulated by each state.