Surrogate mother makes money by making baby: Do we need a clear law on this? / Irma Kamarudin…[et al.]

carry a child to maturity in her womb and is usually resorted to by well off
infertile couples who can afford the cost involved in order to fulfill their
dream of being parents. This procedure is legal in several countries due to
high international demand. For women who are unable to conceive, this is
one of the alternatives for them to have their genetic offspring. Aside from
several advantages, surrogacy in fact, invites highly controversial issues.
There are numerous cases where the surrogate mother has refused to hand
over the child because the process of surrogacy itself involves emotional
and psychological issues. Moreover, the infertile spouses will have to worry
about legal complications of a contract with the surrogate mother since the
consideration of ‘buying a child’ cannot create a binding contract. There is
also a possibility that child‘s emotional development will be affected
because of this surrogacy process. This paper will be focusing on commercial
surrogacy in Malaysia; on whether it should be banned or regulated by
Malaysian Law. The Writers will look at other countries’ law pertaining to
this issue by taking into consideration its regulation, advantages, disadvantages,
ethics and religious perspective. At the end of this discussion, the
writers will come out with suggestion either commercial surrogacy should
be legally allowed or banned in Malaysia.