What are children’s ‘best interests’ in international surrogacy?

Almost twenty five years after the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child came into force in 1990, social workers are identifying new threats to the rights and needs of children. New family forms resulting from surrogacy arrangements are now possible because of cutting-edge medical technologies and the growing global market in ‘medical tourism’. Jurisdictions across the world are challenged to respond appropriately – especially where commissioning parents are either unclear about the law or are determined to circumvent it. The burgeoning numbers of commercial brokers and doctors with financial interests, and pressure from within the consumer lobby and the fertility industry to loosen international and domestic restraints on surrogacy arrangements, mean that these new challenges require new responses to ensure the best interests of the children involved are adequately catered for.
Earlier this year, BASW’s Project Group on Assisted Reproduction (PROGAR) convened a high level roundtable meeting in London to focus on international surrogacy.