Unmitigated Mexican surrogacy disaster
When it comes to surrogacy, I like to plan the process at the beginning, using people I like and trust, who can assist my clients all the way through. For domestic surrogacy arrangements, this may be other lawyers, financial planners, counsellors and IVF doctors. I just want it to go right first time, or at least have the greatest chance of going right first time. And if it doesn’t go right first time, to do what needs to be done to fix it- easily, quickly, and as cheaply as possible.
Any surrogacy journey can have dramas, which most of the time will be medical, but can be regulatory. For those going to developing countries, it is very much a case of buyer beware. Going overseas for surrogacy, with IVF and using an overseas surrogate, and often an egg donor, is one of the most complex ways of becoming a parent, and things can go badly wrong.
Doing surrogacy at home can be a truly beautiful experience, despite the hurdles, as seen here and here.
Those contemplating going overseas ought to rethink about whether they can do so back home. For some people, such as singles, gay and lesbian couples living in South Australia, or single men and gay couples in Western Australia, at first glance they have little choice but to go overseas. However, it may be possible for them to undertake surrogacy in Queensland or New South Wales. The delay may be no greater than an overseas trip, risk is down and cost may be especially down. Domestic surrogacy arrangements can be as cheap as $25,000 to $60,000, which is usually a lot cheaper than anywhere overseas.
A good illustration of things going wrong is this terrible tale of an Australian couple going to Mexico in today’s Sydney Morning Herald:
“The list of problems included the destruction of our embryo by the clinic through an error in the freezing process and the mixing up of paperwork on transfer of embryos between clinics. We weren’t even sure the embryos transferred in to the surrogate were ours for a period of time.
“In some ways we are glad this devastating experience is over, for us and also for the surrogate mother who didn’t fall pregnant.”
One laboratory report stated that the “technique used is terrible”. The couple said that while the two clinics argue who is the least incompetent, they are heartbroken at seeing the photos of the destroyed embryo.
Mr Yii added: “We where given assurance by our Australian lawyer who did due diligence on a number of clinics that the one we were to use was ‘the most professional and ethical clinic with the most experience in Mexico’. Clearly the best in Mexico has failed.”
I was not the lawyer who advised this couple.
