Surrogate motherhood regulation in South Africa: Medical and ethico-legal issues in need of reform

Main Article Content

M Labuschaigne
E Auret
N Mabeka

Abstract





Chapter 19 of the Children’s Act No. 32 of 2005 regulates the practice of surrogate motherhood in South Africa and provides legal certainty regarding the rights of the children born as a result of surrogacy, including the rights of the different parties involved. Despite the clarity regarding the legal consequences of human reproduction by artificial fertilisation of women acting as surrogate mothers, some legal gaps and inconsistencies regarding certain medical and ethico-legal issues remain. The purpose of this article is to critically examine selected provisions whose implementation is hampered by a lack of detail or clarity, compromising compliance by the different parties to the surrogate motherhood agreement. The article concludes with recommendations on how some of these issues may be addressed to provide for legal certainty and transparency.





Article Details

How to Cite
Surrogate motherhood regulation in South Africa: Medical and ethico-legal issues in need of reform. (2024). South African Journal of Bioethics and Law, 17(3), e2482. https://doi.org/10.7196/SAJBL.2024.v17i3.2482
Section
Research Articles
Author Biographies

M Labuschaigne, School of Law, Department of Jurisprudence, University of South Africa

Professor, Department of Jurisprudence

E Auret, Advocate of the High Court of South Africa; Member of the Cape Bar, Cape Town, South Africa

Advocate of the High Court of South Africa; LLD graduate of the University of South Africa

N Mabeka, School of Law, Department of Jurisprudence, University of South Africa

Associate Professor; Department of Jurisprudence

How to Cite

Surrogate motherhood regulation in South Africa: Medical and ethico-legal issues in need of reform. (2024). South African Journal of Bioethics and Law, 17(3), e2482. https://doi.org/10.7196/SAJBL.2024.v17i3.2482

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