Surrogacy and parenthood : an overview of the research on the relationship between surrogacy and adoption

In this paper I provide an overview of research relating to surrogacy arrangements. In particular I am interested in the different approaches that have emerged in the academic literature about surrogacy and adoption. I argue that, to date, the empirical research findings are at best partial, and often inconsistent. The focus in the empirical research is still largely concerned with issues relating to surrogate mothers, intending parents and the legal regulation of surrogacy arrangements. There is less focus on the interests of people born from surrogacy arrangements to have access to information regarding their gestational and genetic origins – an interest that is now largely recognized for adoptees and donor conceived people. In the second part of this paper I focus on the question of legal parenthood. A concept of intention has been put forward as an alternative basis for determining legal parenthood in surrogacy arrangements. The arguments in favour of intention based parenthood present a challenge to the dominant position that the woman who gives birth to a child is (always) the (legal) mother. I argue, from a feminist perspective, that greater attention needs to be given to the context of intention.