Surrogate motherhood is commonly known as "borrowing a womb to have children". The development of modern science has made it possible for surrogacy to be completed through in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination, without physical contact between the parties. It appears more like the "rental" of a bodily organ. However, this "rental" behavior creates a tight psychological and spiritual connection between the mother and child, leading to emotional entanglements that are hard to sever. Additionally, who is the legal mother - the provider of the uterus or the provider of the egg? This remains a real problem yet to be resolved.
In real life, disputes arising from surrogacy over ethics, law, and emotions are not uncommon. Children born through surrogacy are often considered to have "illegitimate origins" and many become "black household registrations", resulting in disputes over child custody. The invalidity of surrogacy contracts makes it difficult for surrogate mothers to receive legal protection. In case of accidental miscarriage, they not only receive no compensation but also face the risk of having to return the surrogacy commission and living expenses. The emotional needs of surrogate mothers cannot be met: some surrogate mothers cannot let go of their maternal feelings after giving birth, leading to disputes with the clients which result in lawsuits; others develop feelings for the client, causing extramarital affairs, family disputes, and even serious criminal cases. Since the behavior of surrogate mothers goes against traditional ethics and morality, some must bear enormous moral pressure.
Since surrogacy is an act that violates Chinese laws and runs counter to moral ethics, effective measures must be taken to curb it. First, relevant laws must be improved as soon as possible to clarify the legal responsibilities of illegal surrogacy acts and the functions of regulatory agencies. Relevant functional departments should also face the already existing phenomenon of surrogacy objectively, strengthen investigations on related surrogacy websites and institutions, severely crack down on illegal black-market surrogacy intermediaries and headhunters involved in matchmaking, and sanction medical institutions and relevant staff who illegally provide surrogacy services.
The contract signed between the surrogate mother and the client seeking a child may seem, on the surface, to be a consensual contractual act. However, upon closer analysis, it is clear that this contract is illegal. Human organs, sperm, etc., can only be donated, not bought or sold, which has become a global consensus. That is to say, the uterus of the surrogate mother and her parent-child relationship with the child are non-transactional and cannot be the object of a contract.
Chinese law explicitly prohibits such actions. The "Management Measures for Human Assisted Reproductive Technology" issued by the Ministry of Health in August 2001 clearly stipulates that the application of human assisted reproductive technology can only be conducted in medical institutions for medical purposes, and must comply with national family planning policies, ethical principles, and relevant laws. Medical institutions conducting human assisted reproductive technology that violate these regulations, engage in the buying and selling of gametes or embryos, or implement surrogacy technology, will be warned by the health administrative department of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government, fined less than 30,000 yuan, and the relevant responsible persons will be administratively disciplined. If the act constitutes a crime, criminal responsibility will be pursued according to law. That is to say, even medical institutions engaged in assisted reproductive technology can only cultivate test-tube babies, and artificial surrogacy is illegal. However, current laws do not impose restrictive provisions on behaviors such as "surrogacy intermediaries," "surrogacy headhunters," and "surrogate mothers." These legal blind spots allow some people to exploit loopholes.