Social surrogacy – if you have a uterus, should you be forced to use it?

I am a huge advocate for everyone’s right to autonomy and the protection of reproductive rights. This extends to a person’s right to decide whether to have children, and to decide to become a surrogate. We should introduce social surrogacy across Australia.

I chose to have my two children with my partner. I enjoyed pregnancy and birth and looked forward to bringing my children into the world. I then decided to become pregnant as a surrogate, with the aim of using my body, and my uterus, to help someone else to experience parenthood.

Intersectional feminism advocates for reproductive autonomy and rights, trans rights and gender equality.

Most states in Australia require people to have a medical or social need to engage in surrogacy. Medical need refers to an eligible couple or eligible woman, to be unable to conceive or carry a child, or to do so must be risky to them or the baby. For anyone with a uterus, they require a medical practitioner to ‘approve’ them to proceed with surrogacy.

The same is not required of men and people assigned male at birth. The irony of our surrogacy laws is that it can be easier for single men and same sex male couples to decide to go ahead with social surrogacy, than it is for a woman or person assigned female at birth.

I have met many intended parents who, by reason of having a uterus, must prove that they have a medical need to proceed with surrogacy. The reasons vary and can include infertility, pregnancy loss, cancer, condition or disease of the uterus, tokophobia (fear of pregnancy) and gender dysphoria. They must find a doctor willing to approve them for surrogacy. Many people tell me they’ve seen multiple doctors and suffered from years of infertility, and are still told they do not ‘qualify’ for surrogacy.

There are no clear guidelines for doctors to decide if someone has a medical reason for surrogacy. And many doctors are either unaware of the criteria, or are not confident enough to support someone to proceed with surrogacy.

I think it’s time we abolished surrogacy laws that require a medical need to proceed with surrogacy. If all of us are created equal, we should allow for social surrogacy to apply to anyone in Australia. This would mean anyone – men, women and gender diverse folk – to decide how to grow their family and whether to use their own bodies to have children.

Much like I decided to have children, for my own family and to help someone grow theirs, I think everyone should be able to make that decision for themselves.

Possession of a uterus should not force anyone to use it. Forced pregnancy is patriarchal and oppressive.

Does this mean introducing Hollywood versions of social surrogacy to Australia? Will people opt-in for surrogacy because they are ‘too posh to push’? The reality is that most people who have a uterus would dearly love to carry a child themselves, if they could. Most women who pursue surrogacy have been to hell and back to try and carry their own child. Many of them have had to jump multiple hurdles to get a doctor to approve them for surrogacy. Often, the need to prove medical infertility is traumatic, intrusive, and re-traumatising.

We don’t expect men to jump any hoops. They can make the choice to engage in social surrogacy, and I think women should be able to do the same.

But there’s so few surrogates! Won’t removing medical criteria make it harder to find a surrogate in Australia? Maybe. But is anyone entitled to have a surrogate carry for them? Is it not the surrogate’s decision who she carries for? I think all women should have autonomy to decide to be a surrogate, and who to carry for – and that includes for someone who has decided for themselves to grow their family through surrogacy.

Single men and same sex male couples are not more entitled to engage in surrogacy than women and people AFAB. Everyone should have the opportunity to decide how to grow their family, and whether to use their own bodies to do that for themselves, or for someone else.

Requirements to prove a medical need are outdated, anti-feminist and oppressive.

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Sarah has published a book, More Than Just a Baby: A Guide to Surrogacy for Intended Parents and Surrogates, the only guide to surrogacy in Australia.

You can find more information in the free Surrogacy Handbook, reading articles in the Blog, by listening to more episodes of the Surrogacy Podcast. You can also book in for a consult with me below, and check out the legal services I provide.