The Taiwanese government is reported to be meeting throughout September to consider the status of Surrogacy in Taiwan, and finalise a bill. A draft Surrogacy Act was prepared in 2005, but stalled due to a lack of consensus on the legalisation of sperm and egg donations, the rights of surrogate mothers, biological parents and children, and whether surrogate mothers could be paid.
Surrogacy is in the spotlight in Taiwan at the moment, after a 54-year-old Taiwanese singer, Jeanette Wang, released a statement saying she had become the mother of a baby boy through a surrogate mother overseas. She said she and her partner had tried various methods to conceive over 24 years, without success.
Surrogacy is currently illegal in Taiwan. This has not prevented online agencies from springing up to meet demand from those who cannot conceive a Child conventionally or by assisted fertility treatments. These agencies advertise women abroad who are prepared to act as surrogate mothers on a commercial basis.
One Taiwanese news report put the average cost of having a child through a Russian surrogate at TWD$2 million (about £42,000).
The concerns with which the Taiwanese government is currently grappling are not local ones. They resonate with issues faced by those in this country considering surrogacy. Surrogacy used to be the preserve of celebrities, but happens increasingly now in the real world. It is a viable option for “ordinary” people living in Britain who yearn to have a child.
Whilst not as rare as it once was, surrogacy in England and Wales remains a specialised area. The law here about surrogacy arrangements is not straightforward. Those considering surrogacy, or those who have already entered into an arrangement, should take Specialist Advice early. This is all the more so if the arrangement has an international dimension, such as where the surrogate mother lives abroad.
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By Duncan Ranton, Family Law Expert.
