Surrogate Rights?

Mr. Justice Coleridge today ruled that a surrogate mother who deliberately deceived childless couples could not keep her baby. 

On two occasions the woman told the waiting parents-to-be that she had miscarried. This was a lie and she went on to keep the babies. One of the couples found out and went to court. It was ruled that the deceptive surrogate had to return the child to its biological father. 

This all seems acceptable and most people would be happy with this outcome. But when you learn that no surrocacy agreement is legally binding and that the surrogate mother can at any time during the pregnancy change her mind and decide to keep the baby, some questions are raised.

It is hard to understand why she would have lied about having miscarried, had she simply told the waiting parents that she in fact wanted to keep the unborn child then the potential parents would have no legal rights and that would have been the end of it.

Furthermore, does the court have the right to pass the child over on the basis that the mother was deceptive and immoral? Many deceptive and immoral people have children outside of a surrocacy arrangement and their children are not taken off them.

 It seems that there are two issues here. The first is whether the surrogate mother has legal rights over the child. The basic answer would be yes, because no surrogacy agreement is binding.

Secondly it can be considered whether she is fit to be mother. It was up to the court to decide who would be a better parent to the child. I think this is an incorrect application of the family law surrounding surrocacy agreements. If she is a fit mother, in the sense that social services would not be knocking on her door to take the child, and if she has brought her other children up in a heathly and stable environment then it is absurd that she can now be judged against another couple to have to give up a child that was legally always hers to keep.

Comparing one good parent against another good parent is not the way to go about resolving this dilemma.