Surrogacy can be very helpful for those who want to grow their families but have run into certain challenges doing so on their own. Someone may be infertile, for example, and tactics like in vitro fertilization may not have worked. They may decide to have a child with a surrogate who carries that child for them.
But what about the other side of the equation? It is clear why this helps parents who are struggling to have children naturally, but why would someone else choose to be a surrogate in the first place?
Compassionate surrogacy versus paid surrogacy
There are two main reasons. The first is that people are sometimes paid to be surrogates. Someone may say that the charge to be a surrogate is $25,000, for example. The other parents will pay this cost, so the primary benefit for the surrogate is financial. They know that they are able to have children and may have a history of having children successfully themselves, so they see this as a way to make money on the side.
Compassionate surrogacy, on the other hand, is when someone does it for free. You will often find this with close friends or family members. Someone may simply want to help another couple expand their family, perhaps feeling compassion for them after they have looked into assisted reproductive technologies and explored their options. There is no legal obligation for the surrogate to be paid in all cases, and some people choose to do it simply because of the joy they can bring to others.
No matter how the surrogacy contract is written, both sides should be well aware of the terms and exactly what is expected of them. This can be a complex legal process, which is why it can be helpful to work with an experienced law firm every step of the way.