Clarifying "biological," "natural," and "adoptive" parents

Thoughts on the ethics of gestational surrogacy: perspectives from religions, Western liberalism, and comparisons with adoption

BACKGROUND

In gestational surrogacy, a woman incubates an embryo to which she is not genetically related. Genetic distance from both her and the commissioning parents is increased further when donor gametes are employed. Ethical implications vary depending on the extent to which the parents and surrogates share genetic material with the produced child.

PURPOSE

This paper seeks to address two primary questions: What do selected ethical frameworks tell us of (1) the relationship between genetic motherhood, gestational motherhood, social motherhood, and marital fidelity? And (2) the effects of gestational surrogacy and gamete donation on our understanding of lineage and heritability?

METHODS

Current literature and thought on these questions were considered through the classical ethics lenses of religion, the adoption standard, and Western liberalism.

RESULTS

A genetic link between the parents and the child serves to simplify the adoption process (if one is required) and supports a family's desire to resemble as much as possible a traditional biological family, thus providing a minimum set of challenges to religious or conservative hesitations.

CONCLUSION

Inasmuch as gestational surrogacy, with or without donor gametes, is tolerated in a variety of ethical contexts; the basis of its acceptance may be the Western liberal celebration of contractual agreement.