Professor Deirdre Madden:

Certainly. It is something I have also been very interested in over the years. I struggle with the idea that the word "commercial" in this context is almost a dirty word and equals exploitation. When we talk about commercial surrogacy, we have to say what we mean. Is it just where a woman is paid? Does it depend on how much she is paid, the socio-economic circumstances of her life or the country in which she lives? What if the payment is described as expenses? What if non-profit agencies are involved? Looking at all the other people involved in facilitation of a surrogacy arrangement, be they lawyers, counsellors, doctors, clinicians or nurses, they are paid for their involvement in this process. There are three different ways of looking at this if we think about the issue of payment. Either the surrogate gets nothing and has to pay for everything herself, which I do not think anybody is suggesting; she receives reimbursement at reasonable expenses and it is up to each jurisdiction to determine how that is calculated based on local economic factors; or she receives vouched expenses plus perhaps a living allowance or a gift to thank her for all she has done to help a childless family. Some surrogates would not even accept such a gift. As long as she is not coerced, induced, manipulated, threatened or tricked into carrying the pregnancy, as long as she is giving fully informed, voluntary consent, I wonder how the payment exploits her. It could be counter-argued-----