Ms Sara Cohen:

That is something we all need to explore. I must express that my experience of surrogacy, of which I have quite a bit, is limited to the Canadian model. It would therefore be unfair of me to talk about how surrogacy works in other jurisdictions, only to say I think, and the research is very clear, that the socio-economic realities in certain jurisdictions are different and that it is important to keep that in mind when choosing how to oversee international surrogacy as to not only what we can accept but also where can we rely on proper legal frameworks and proper steps that have been taken to ensure that the surrogate provides free and informed consent. I do not have experience of surrogacy in places such as Kenya so it would be unfair of me to comment on that. I can tell the Senator only that it is very successful in Canada. The proof is in the pudding in that all the academic research, in my personal experience with surrogacy, shows that it is incredibly rewarding and truly something the parties are proud of.

As to where I think Canada could improve, there are a few areas. We have agencies in Canada in respect of which, similar to most jurisdictions in the United States, I would love to see some regulation, with certain professional backgrounds required. Overall, we see counsellors, social workers, etc., involved in the agencies, and in Canada we absolutely require psychological counselling prior to engaging in a surrogacy. It would be helpful, however, to have some regulations in respect of the agencies so we could ensure they are of a certain standard, even if we are meeting those standards anyway. It would be the right thing to do.