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GungnirSniper [soylentnews.org] writes:

From the does-GPL-cover-genetic-code department

Surrogacy is an option for having children, but with this new possibility come new ethical dilemmas as well. In order to improve the odds of implanted embryos, two or three are often implanted in the surrogate. Bringing multiples to term carries a number of risks [americanpregnancy.org] so when the father-to-be wants a "selective reduction" done [washingtonpost.com] who has the right to deny or impose the process?

The 47-year-old Californian had agreed to be a surrogate for a 50-year-old postal worker in Georgia, and she became pregnant last year with three boys. But then, she said later in a lawsuit, the man expressed concerns about his dwindling finances and about the health of the babies. He asked her to undergo “selective reduction” to eliminate one of the embryos.

She filed a lawsuit to keep all three alive, and has also filed for custody of them. The three were born via Caesarian on February 22nd and are all underweight. WSB Radio reports she has asked the courts to rule her 75-page contract unenforceable [wsbradio.com] so that she will be protected from the consequences of breaching it.

At what point does someone else's genetic material and offspring become the surrogate's? Or has she breached her contract and in doing so, harmed the three infants?

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