A couple who have spent the last year searching for a surrogate say most interested women bow out when they discover the realities of surrogacy and the long process involved.
Meanwhile, a heavily pregnant surrogate says the lack of compensation is unfair because it “undervalues” women’s work.
By law, surrogacy in New Zealand has to be altruistic. It means intended parents cannot pay their surrogates in any way, even if they suffer financially as a result of being pregnant.
Intended parents can end up spending $30,000-$50,000 for fertility treatments, pregnancy-related costs and legal fees, but their surrogate sees none of that money.
On top of that, for people who do not have a loved one offering to be their surrogate, finding one can take years and is often done through informal social media groups.
Surrogacy arrangements in New Zealand must also receive approval from the Ethics Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology (ECART), which can take another six-to-eight months.
Some surrogates and intended parents think these barriers are widening New Zealand’s surrogacy shortage.
Amy, who did not want her full name used, is a heavily pregnant surrogate and said she debates with herself whether surrogates should be compensated.
“I don’t ever think that a baby should be paid for,” she said.
“However, for some, pregnancy is one of the biggest stressors on a person’s body.”
She said surrogacy being uncompensated was yet another way women’s work was “underpaid” and “undervalued”.
While Amy was putting her “life on the line” as a surrogate, her own children had missed out on her being fully present for them during this time, she said.
The couple she was having a baby for had been very helpful and offered all forms of practical help, but that did not change the fact that this had been “the hardest nine months” of her life.
“I know that the intended parents have, at times, wanted to possibly do more but they’re very scared.
“They don’t want to overstep that legal boundary and then have everything blow up in their face.”
Liam* and Peter* are a gay couple in their 30s from Christchurch who have been on the lookout for an egg donor and a surrogate for the past year.
They made a public social media post at the start of the year which got the attention of many potential egg donors, but not nearly as many potential surrogates.
Some of the women they spoke to were learning about the realities of surrogacy for the first time through them, which made them realise there was a lack of public awareness when it came to surrogacy.
“We’re keen to meet with anyone that’s keen to meet with us,” Liam said.
“We’re very mindful that we don’t want to be forcing anything.”
Liam and Peter recalled meeting one woman who was well-intentioned but did not have a good support system to help her through surrogacy, which meant she would not have passed the ECART process.
ECART is a ministerial body that ensures surrogacy is done legally and ethically, and it only meets six or seven times a year.
Its application process requires surrogates to have medical assessments, attend counselling sessions and get independent legal advice.
Even after receiving ECART approval, fertility treatment and embryo transfer could take many more months.
Liam said the long process could put off potential surrogates who would be happy to carry a child in the immediate future but would not want to wait a year or two.
“Particularly for surrogates, I think the entire process needs to be easier,” he said.
“If they could find a way to simplify the process and not have it drag out for so long, that would, in itself, open up a lot more people [to it].”
Like Amy, the couple wished there was a way to meaningfully thank surrogates for their service.
“You’ve got somebody that’s giving up a significant portion of their life, and it’s not just a quick nine months and done, it’s everything that comes with it after that,” Liam said.
“You certainly don’t want them to be financially disadvantaged because they’re doing such a big thing for us.”
New surrogacy Bill could make ‘significant difference’
Fertility New Zealand chairman Calum Barrett said surrogacy was a “significant undertaking” that involved physical, mental, emotional and financial risk.
He said the law that regulated surrogacy was “inadequate” and “unequipped to support surrogates” with the financial realities of pregnancy.
The Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004 lacked “nuance” because it was so focused on preventing commercial surrogacy, Barrett said.
Barrett believed the Improving Arrangements for Surrogacy Bill, which is currently undergoing its second reading at Parliament, could make a “significant difference” to surrogates.
If it passed, it would allow for intended parents to reimburse surrogates for things like loss of income, childcare costs for existing children, health insurance and life insurance, he said.
Barrett used to be the chair of the Advisory Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology and sit on ECART as an observer.
When it came to ECART assessments, he said the process was not “red tape for the sake of red tape” and should not be rushed or trimmed down.
“That is there to safeguard the surrogate and, very importantly, the resulting child.”
He said the time it takes ECART to review applications could be sped up if the committee had more funding.
The Ministry of Health said in a statement the complex processes for surrogacy were echoed in many other countries, “as there is evidence that commercial surrogacy can lead to the exploitation of women and children”.
They said the requirement for parents to adopt the child can further complicate and lengthen the process. The new bill before Parliament would speed this process up and remove the need for a separate adoption process after birth.
*Names have been changed for privacy.
Janhavi Gosavi is a Wellington-based journalist for the New Zealand Herald who covers news in the capital.