Document Type

Comment

Abstract

As reproduction by surrogacy increases, the problems arising from surrogacy contracts also increase. Countries around the world are being asked to solve never-before-seen legal problems arising from surrogacy agreements. When trying to solve the newly arisen problems, the rights of the child born from the surrogacy contract tend to be overlooked. Enacted laws try to solve the enforceability of the contract and protect the rights of the parties involved— such as, who are the legal parents of the child if both sides of the agreement wish to keep the child.

However, few of these laws address a situation where the opposite is true, a situation in which neither side wants to keep the child. In these situations, the primary focus should be the rights of the child, not the rights of the people involved in the contract. The law should be up to date and ready to protect the well-being of the child—a person who never asked to be born. Specifically, rights such as the citizenship of the child, the right to financial support, the right to inherit, and the right to identity should be protected.

The Comment discusses how prepared U.S. and Texas law is to handle problems arising from a surrogacy contract in which neither side wants to keep the child. In this case, a child with intended American parents should have the right to be a U.S. citizen, the right to receive financial support from a party involved in the contract, the right to inherit, and the right to know his or her identity. These problems may not be currently present, but with the increase of surrogacy use, it surely could be an issue in the future.

DOI

10.37419/LR.V3.I2.7

First Page

417

Last Page

443

Recommended Citation

Lorena Solis, The Voiceless Citizens: Surrogacy Contracts and the Rights of the Child, 3 Tex. A&M L. Rev. 417 (2015).
Available at: https://doi.org/10.37419/LR.V3.I2.7

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