Canadian surrogacy lawsuit exposes deeper ethical tensions, Catholic bioethicist says

A Canadian same-sex coupleʼs lawsuit against the surrogate mother who refused their request to abort their unborn child is drawing attention not only to abortion but also to deeper questions about surrogacy itself, Canadian bioethicist Moira McQueen said.

Contracting a surrogate mother to carry an implanted embryo separates what the Church calls the unitive and procreative dimensions of marriage, McQueen said. “If you start interfering with that, there will be problems.”

McQueen said the Ontario dispute illustrates how separating conception, pregnancy, and parenthood among different people can create conflicts that no contract can fully prevent.

In this case, the problems read like a checklist of all that can go wrong in surrogate parenting. A same-sex couple allege that the Ontario woman who carried their son to birth breached their surrogacy agreement during the pregnancy and after his birth.

The lawsuit in Ontario Superior Court alleges the surrogate failed to keep the couple informed about the babyʼs health, disregarded medical advice, excluded them from decisions about the pregnancy, and failed to follow their directions regarding the babyʼs medical care. It also…