New York’s Gov. Cuomo might end surrogacy ban

The Cuomo administration is weighing whether to lift the ban on commercial surrogacy in New York — a top priority for our community following the legalization of marriage.

A state law would have to be approved by the Legislature and Cuomo to lift the ban on surrogacy contracts.

A bill called the Child-Parent Security Act, which has been introduced by state Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) and Assemblywoman Amy Paulin (D-Westchester), would legalize surrogacy through gestational pregnancies.

In this process, the surrogate does not use her own biological eggs. Instead, she is artificially impregnated with someone’s else’s egg and sperm through in vitro fertilization. She then hands the baby over to the legal parents after birth.

The proposal’s chances increase if Cuomo throws his support behind it.

The ban was put into place after the infamous 1993 “Baby M” case in New Jersey, when surrogate mother Mary Beth Whitehead reneged on a paid baby contract after she was inseminated with a man’s sperm and gave birth. The courts then invalidated the contract. But in that case, Whitehead was the biological mother because her own eggs were used.

via NY Post