Part 1<\/p>\n
Across Canada, every year, thousands of intended parents wait (sometimes for years) hoping to be matched with someone willing to carry the child they dream of. Women across Canada, where surrogacy is unpaid, are evaluating whether they are willing to act as surrogates1<\/sup>, dedicating their body, time, and emotional energy to helping another family grow.<\/p>\n Under the federal legislation, the Assisted Human Reproduction Act <\/em>(2004), Canadian legislators have chosen an unpaid model of surrogacy, offered referred to as \u201caltruistic\u201d surrogacy. This means that a surrogate cannot be paid for her work as a surrogate; she may only receive reimbursement for pregnancy\u2011related expenses. The intention behind the law may have been to protect surrogates from exploitation, and prevent the commodification of a human child, however, whose decision should it be<\/strong> to decide whether the work a surrogate performs should be paid or unpaid? Shouldn\u2019t the surrogate have a choice in the matter?<\/p>\n