Legal Parentage Issues Arising From Cross-border Surrogacy

Cross-border surrogacy has a great impact on traditional legal system, and brings lots of international problems, among which the parentage issues in cross-border surrogacy are the most significant and serious ones. The legal parentage determined in the birth-country needs to be recognized by the receiving country for bringing the surrogate children together with the intended parents to return their home country. In cross-border surrogacy, however, it means approving the illegal results since the receiving countries will prohibit surrogacy generally, but in the mean time, it’s against the interests of the innocent children if not. In the absence of international regulation, states all over the world make their own choices.Part I of this article begins with a general overview of the origin and relevant concepts of surrogacy and cross-border surrogacy, and then discusses the legal significance of the legal parentage arising from international surrogacy arrangements, from the respective of determination of legal parents and citizenship.Part II discusses the current situation of (cross-border) surrogacy, as well as the determination of the legal parentage in cross-border surrogacy first; Then explores the existing practice of some states in determining the legal parentage in cross-border surrogacy from three aspects of recognition, refusal to recognize it and approaches of the eclectic through the analysis of specific cases; And finally, analysis the problems and main causes in it with the present national legislation and practice.Part III makes some recommendations for the resolution to the parentage problems in cross-border surrogacy from both domestic and international angle. And analysis what China can and should do in the future international regulation of the legal parentage issues arising from cross-border surrogacy, based on the existing circumstances of surrogacy, legal system and judicial practice of China concerning the parentage in surrogacy.