Ar surogatinė motina gali įgyti motinos teises pagimdyto vaiko atžvilgiu?
Stravinskaitė, Simona |
Surogacija yra suprantama kaip dviejų šalių susitarimas: viena šalis – surogatinė motina – sutinka pagimdyti kūdikį kitai šaliai, be tolimesnio ketinimo jį auklėti, t. y. atsisakoma motinystės teisių. Tarp valstybių nėra vieno bendro sutarimo dėl surogacijos teisinio reglamentavimo. Kai surogatinė motina pagimdo kūdikį, o teismas turi nuspręsti, kokias teises surogatinė motina turi pagimdyto vaiko atžvilgiu, kyla daug diskusijų ir nesutarimų. Šiame darbe nagrinėjama surogatinės motinos teisių įgijimo į pagimdytą vaiką problematika. Pagrindinė darbo hipotezė - surogatinė motina tam tikrais atvejais gali įgyti motinos teises į pagimdytą vaiką. Pagrindinės hipotezės pagrindimui yra išsikeltas tikslas - išnagrinėti surogatinės motinos teisių įgijimo į vaiką galimybes atlygintinės ir altruistinės surogacijos atveju. Atlikus mokslinės literatūros, teisės aktų ir teismų praktikos pavyzdžių analizę, darbo hipotezė buvo patvirtinta. Kiekvienas atvejis yra skirtingas priklausomai nuo bylos faktų – vienu atveju teismas teises į vaiką priteisia surogatei, kitu – numatomiems tėvams. Teismų sprendimai yra palankesni surogatinei motinai altruistinės surogacijos atveju, tačiau tik tokiu atveju, jeigu manoma, kad taip geriausiai bus užtikrinti vaiko interesai. Atlygintinės surogacijos atveju, teismų sprendimai yra palankesni surogatinei motinai, jeigu buvo taikoma tradicinė surogacija.
Surrogacy in the alternative of artificial insemination methods for couples, who are not able to have children for various reasons. Surrogacy is the agreement of two counterparties: surrogate mother, who agrees to get pregnant and to give birth to a child for other counterparty (the couple or single person), without future intention to rise the child, in other words - abandon all rights to the child. The origins of surrogacy reach biblical times. However, the concept of contemporary surrogacy was formed only in the 9-10th decade of 20th century. It was influenced by the rapid progress of reproductive medicine.
Surrogacy has been rapidly gaining popularity around the world over the last two decades. The popularity of surrogacy was the fastest growing in the Western countries, where the adoption of a child is a strictly regulated, long, troublesome and bureaucratic process. The fact that the need for surrogate motherhood is growing in Lithuania as well, is revealed by the growing number of anonymous advertisements, in which people are searching for woman, who could give the birth to the child or contrarily – woman is offering surrogacy services.
Surrogacy is prohibited in Lithuanian. However, other countries face various legal, moral and social problems of surrogacy, which are mainly influenced by different approaches to surrogacy and different legal regulation of surrogate motherhood. One of the biggest problem arises, then surrogate mother gave the birth to the child and the court has to consider, what are the surrogate mother rights to the child. Therefore, this final thesis studies the problematic aspects of surrogate mother rights to the child. Considering different approaches and different legal regulation of surrogacy, the basic hypothesis - the surrogate mother in certain cases may acquire maternity rights for the child.
The main aim – to analyze the surrogate mother opportunities for the acquisition of rights to the child in the case of commercial and altruistic surrogacy. In order to justify the hypothesis, the following objectives have been raised:
- To analyze the theoretical aspects of the concept of surrogate motherhood;
- To review the legal regulation of surrogacy in Lithuania and foreign countries;
- To analyze the surrogate mother rights to the child in the case of commercial and altruistic surrogacy;
- To make the summary of all the materials and to present the conclusion, which confirm or deny the above-mentioned hypothesis. Subject to genetic relation between surrogate mother and the child, surrogacy is divided into traditional surrogacy and gestational surrogacy. Depending on whether the surrogate is paid, the other two types of surrogacy are distinguished – altruistic and commercial surrogacy. While the surrogate mother in case of altruistic surrogacy agree to give the birth for free, commercial surrogacy is paid. The all types of surrogacy are prohibited in Lithuania. The prohibition is enshrined in the Law on Supplementary Insemination of the Republic of Lithuania. The civil agreements related to surrogacy are considered as null and avoid. It should be noted, that Lithuanian legislation does not provide for any special provisions that would provide for criminal liability in the event of any kind of surrogacy. Hence, the surrogacy in Lithuania is not properly regulated. The regulation of surrogacy varies widely from one country to another. Based on materials analyzed, the four types of surrogacy legal regulation can be distinguished: 1) all types of surrogacy are prohibited (Italy, Norway, Poland etc.) 2) all types of surrogacy are allowed (Russia, Ukraine, Georgia etc.); 3) only altruistic surrogacy is allowed (Great Britain, India, Greece etc.); 4) no legal regulation of surrogacy (Ireland, Czech Republic etc.). In the context of legal acts regulating surrogacy, the three typical commercial surrogacy countries (Russia, Ukraine and Georgia) and altruistic surrogacy countries (Great Britain, India and Greece) were analyzed. According to the materials analyzed, despite the fact that all the three typical commercial surrogacy countries allow gestational surrogacy, Russia applies the Mater semper certa est principle, while Ukraine and Georgia do not. Due to this, it is considered that the surrogate mother in Russia has more possibilities to acquire the rights to the child, than surrogate mother in Ukraine or Georgia. According to the examples of judicial practice, in the case of commercial surrogacy, the surrogate mother has both possibilities – to acquire, or not to acquire the rights to the child. The outcome of the court is more favorable to the surrogate mother, if the traditional surrogacy was used, in other words – the surrogate mother and the child are genetically related. In the case of altruistic surrogacy, the acquisition of the motherhood rights highly depends if the Mater semper certa est principle applied. The principal Mater semper certa est is accepted in Great Britain. The surrogate mother is considered as legal mother of the child, irrespective of genetic relation between the surrogate mother ant the child. India does not accept the Mater semper certa est principle. Greece applies this principle in base case, however applied an exception to surrogacy. Based on analyzed material it is considered that in the of altruistic surrogacy, the outcome of the court is more favorable to the surrogate mother. Yet, the best interest of the child is above the interest of surrogate mother and the interest of intended parents. The main hypothesis was confirmed – the surrogate mother in certain cases may acquire maternity rights for the child. The court outcome is more favorable to the surrogate mother in case of altruistic surrogacy, irrespective of genetic relation between the surrogate mother ant the child, with condition that the best interest of the child is ensured. In case of commercial surrogacy, the surrogate mother right to the child is highly dependent on traditional or gestational surrogacy type used. In this case, the court outcome is more favorable to the surrogate mother if the traditional surrogacy was used, in other words the surrogate mother and the child is genetically related. All in all, every case is different and highly dependent on the various facts – in one case the court can decide that the rights to the child belong to the surrogate mother, in the other court – the decision that the right to the child belong to the intended parents can be made. The variety of court decisions do not form he precedent for similar cases in future.