The pitfalls of international surrogacy: A South African family law perspective
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Authors
Heaton, Jacqueline
Issue Date
2015
Type
Article
Language
en
Keywords
International surrogacy , Cross-border surrogacy , Surrogacy , Legal parentage
Alternative Title
Abstract
The main objective of this article is to discuss the legal position which operates
if (a) persons who are not domiciled in South Africa obtain a child via surrogacy
in this country; and (b) South Africans obtain a child via surrogacy in a foreign country.
First, the provisions of the Children’s Act which regulate surrogacy are set out.
The discussion focuses on those provisions which could be pertinent in the
context of international surrogacy because they dictate the consequences of
surrogacy, may encourage South Africans to engage in surrogacy abroad or
discourage foreigners from engaging in surrogacy in South Africa, and indicate
the South African legislature’s distaste for commercial surrogacy. Then, the
consequences of the two instances of international surrogacy identified above are
examined. The discussion focuses on family law issues and, in particular, legal
parentage of the child from a private law perspective. Some public law matters
that are linked to legal parentage are mentioned in brief. In the second-last part
of the article possible methods for regulating the identified instances of international
surrogacy are considered briefly. As is customary, the article ends with a conclusion.
Description
Citation
Heaton, Jacqueline (2015) The pitfalls of international surrogacy: A South African family law perspective. Journal for Contemporary Roman-Dutch Law (78) 24-46
Publisher
LexisNexis