Abandonment of newborns with impairments in surrogacy: rights protection in China and beyond

Abstract

In China, surrogate newborns with impairments face significant risks of abandonment and lack of treatment and care. In China, there is a growing number of surrogate newborns each year. They are at high risk of impairments and abandonment, which cause a gap in their guardianship and endanger their lives. Surrogate mothers and agencies may not be willing or able to support and treat newborns with impairments, resulting in further abandonment and damage. China should first solve the responsibility gap caused by unclear legal parenthood in surrogacy and establish temporary guardianship responsibility to ensure seamless care and treatment. Strengthening social assistance for surrogate newborns with impairments and their families is urgently needed. The timely intervention of the government, welfare institutions, NGOs and the more comprehensive regulation on surrogacy are also indispensable to protect the rights of surrogate newborns with impairments.

Points of interest

• Surrogate newborns with impairments face great risks of being abandoned by their intended parents.

• The unclear parenthood and responsibility in surrogacy cause gaps in the care and treatment of newborns with impairments.

• Even if the surrogate mothers are willing to raise the newborns with impairments, they lack the financial ability to provide maintenance and afford treatment costs.

• The help of civil affairs agencies and legal protection are currently difficult to reach surrogate newborns with impairments and surrogate mothers.

• The research recommended that the legislators and policymakers take into account the circumstances of these surrogate newborns and help them with laws and social assistance.

Keywords:

• Abandonment
• impairments
• surrogate newborns
• social assistance
• rights protection
• legal responsibilities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.