Legal Definitions - surrogate mother

Definition: A surrogate mother is a woman who carries out the gestational function and gives birth to a child for another person or couple. This is typically done on behalf of an infertile couple, and the surrogate mother relinquishes any parental rights she may have upon the birth of the child. A surrogate mother may or may not be the genetic mother of the child.

Examples:

• A woman agrees to carry an embryo throughout pregnancy for a couple who cannot conceive on their own. She gives birth to the child and then gives the child to the couple, relinquishing any parental rights she may have had.
• A woman agrees to carry an embryo for her sister who cannot conceive on her own. The sister's egg and her partner's sperm are used to create the embryo, so the surrogate mother is not genetically related to the child.

These examples illustrate how a surrogate mother carries a child for someone else and then gives up any parental rights she may have had. The first example shows how a surrogate mother can help an infertile couple become parents, while the second example shows how a surrogate mother can help a family member who cannot conceive on her own.