Alan Jay O.

Talla

LEGTECH

Proposing a law for legalization of surrogacy

Surrogacy is a method of reproduction whereby a woman agrees to become pregnant and deliver
a child for a contracted party. She may be the child's genetic mother (the more traditional form of
surrogacy), or she may, as a gestational carrier, carry the pregnancy to delivery after having
been implanted with an embryo. If a woman is unable to naturally conceive and/or carry a
pregnancy, her embryo can be placed in the uterus of another woman for gestation. The exact
circumstances will differ based on each individual couples situation and may involve the use of
donor eggs, donor sperm, or an in vitro procedure transferring an embryo derived from the
couples own egg and sperm.

The current legal framework lacks protection towards parties involved in a surrogacy agreement
is one of the main reasons why this study was conducted. There should be no denying of the
existence of the practice of surrogacy here in the Philippines, the researchers believe that there
shall be proper laws to regulate and govern this special type of agreement.

Filipino patients are indeed fortunate to have a fertility center which is able to provide
individualized, compassionate care in the Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility
(CARMI) at St. Luke’s Medical Center-Global City. The high clinical and laboratory standards
of CARMI are based on strict adherence to accepted international guidelines, backed by state-of-
the-art technology. The all-Filipino team of embryologists has had more than 10 years of
experience in huge IVF laboratories abroad.

Proving that the Philippines is not new to the whole process of IVF, there are already various
laws that limit and govern IVF. The Constitution provides guidelines, stated here are the rights of
each human being and how they should be treated in the eyes of the law. The Family code
focuses on the legal definition of a family; it contains articles, which discusses the legitimacy of
children born within the scope of marriage. The Civil Code deliberately provides information
about the legality of contracts and its enforceability between both parties and in this case a
contract between the couple and the surrogate.