The Church decisions on surrogacy
2008 B.B. MIN. 102
16.Note the Statement on Surrogacy issued by the Moderator and the Clerk, with the concurrence of the Convener of the Public Questions and Communications Committee, and incorporate a copy in the Record of the Assembly.
Re: Altruistic Surrogacy
While the Presbyterian Church of Queensland recognizes the pain of married couples who are childless and have tried for years to start a family, we are opposed to altruistic surrogacy. Except in cases of artificial insemination by donor (AID), and intercourse by donor (adultery), the majority of surrogacy conception is achieved by en-vitro fertilization with the production and freezing and the disposal of unused ‘excess’ embryos. The Presbyterian Church of Queensland declares that since personhood commences at conception, it is totally unacceptable to dispose of fertilized eggs by flushing them down the sink. For this reason the Church is opposed to both altruistic and commercial surrogacy.
Since there are few children available for adoption, both in Australia and from overseas, the Church recognizes the frustration of couples who are seeking to adopt a child and the pressures they experience in trying to establish a family by IVF and surrogacy. However while adoption is the placement of a baby who has been born to a mother who is willing to relinquish the child because she is unable to adequately care for it, this not the case with surrogacy.
The aim of surrogacy is to conceive a child for the sole purpose of parting it from its birth mother, with the following issues;
■Problems with the bonding of the child with the birth mother then with the receiving mother.
■Unwillingness of the receiving parents to accept the child/ren if it/they is/are less than perfect, or of the ‘wrong’ sex, or a multiple birth when a single birth was expected.
■Unwillingness of the birth mother to give up the child because she has bonded with it.
■Questioning by the child later in life as to events surrounding its birth and the question of identity.
There is a need to enable childless couples to more readily adopt a child. Perhaps the facilitating of adoption from overseas would be of assistance to couples who are considering surrogacy.
Yours sincerely
Rt Rev Kim Dale, Moderator Rev Ron Clark, Clerk of Assembly