Traditional Surrogacy Contracts, Partial Enforcement, and the Challenge for Family Law

Abstract

Commercial surrogacy remains controversial, although courts over the past few decades seemed to have reached a compromise making gestational but not traditional (genetic) surrogacy agreements enforceable. Recently, a few courts have enforced traditional surrogacy agreements in part or in whole. This article traces the developing jurisprudence in this area, notes some of the counterintuitive implications of some of these latter decisions, and explains how some of these undesirable effects might be avoided.

Keywords: surrogacy, traditional, genetic. gestational, contracts, enforcement, parental rights

JEL Classification: J13, K10, K12