Natalie Gamble has co-authored an article on surrogacy which, after an extensive editorial and peer-review process, has been accepted for publication in the prestigious British Medical Journal.
The piece was written on invitation from the BMJ and co-authored by leading academics and practitioners Lavanya Fischer (India), Professor Kirsty Horsey (UK), Professor Emily Jackson (UK), Denise Seidelman (New York) and Richard Vaughn (California).
The article responds to recent global commentary condemning surrogacy as inherently exploitative of women and harmful to children. It sets out the research evidence showing that surrogacy in fact often produces positive outcomes for all involved. It also argues that legal approaches which seek to restrict or prohibit surrogacy in order to mitigate the risk of unethical or exploitative practice are both misguided and counter-productive: it is a mistake to think that the line between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ surrogacy can be expressed as the difference between altruistic vs commercial, or domestic vs international, and measures which seek to limit surrogacy simply enhance the drive for intended parents to seek less well-regulated options elsewhere.
The only effective way of ensuring ethical surrogacy practice is through robust regulation which neither seeks to restrict or prohibit surrogacy, but instead regulates it with principles of safety, informed consent, adequate support and consideration of long term implications.
Read ‘Surrogacy needs to be regulated, not prohibited’ in the BMJ.
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