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Bill to protect surrogates and their children goes to Torres
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Posted on Dec 19 2019
The bill that would protect women and children in genetic and gestational surrogacy passed the Senate last Monday, and is now on its way to becoming a law.
Senate Bill 21-26, authored by Sen. Vinnie F. Sablan (Ind-Saipan), would update the CNMI Uniformed Parentage Act and establishes guidelines for genetic and gestational surrogacy by adopting the Uniformed Parentage Act of 2017.
“Parent-child relationships have been established through natural birth, adoption, and indigenous practices of the Chamorro and Carolinian customs,” Sablan said. “However, with the advancement in technology over the years and the changing dynamics of spouses and families, the concept of establishing our parent-child relationships has evolved with the advanced assisted reproductive technologies for a person or a couple seeking an alternative way to become parents or expand their family.”
With surrogacy now an option in the CNMI, the senator deemed it important to put in place regulations to ensure that all parties are protected from any liability that may arise from the practice. That includes potential abuses like “wombs-for-hire” or becoming an “employment opportunity” for women, where a paid advertisement in the local newspaper seeking females between 21 to 40 and have at least given birth once naturally has been published.
“We saw that it is important that we put in these regulatory measures so that we protect our women here in the CNMI, as well as the children,” Sablan said.
“…If you have seen it in the papers in [an] ad several months ago, and even last year, the intended parents were paying local surrogate mothers or possible surrogate mothers about $20,000 to $30,000 to carry these fetuses in their bodies.”
The bill also wants to protect CNMI children in the future, Sablan said. “[This bill is intended] to ensure that our women are safe, these babies are safe, and that we can identify which of these children are indigenous or not in the future.”
