What are children’s ‘best interests’ in international surrogacy?

Almost twenty five years after the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child came into force in 1990, social workers are identifying new threats to the rights
and needs of children. New family forms resulting from surrogacy arrangements are
now possible because of cutting-edge medical technologies and the growing global
market in ‘medical tourism’. Jurisdictions across the world are challenged to respond
appropriately – especially where commissioning parents are either unclear about the
law or are determined to circumvent it. The burgeoning numbers of commercial
brokers and doctors with financial interests, and pressure from within the consumer
lobby and the fertility industry to loosen international and domestic restraints on
surrogacy arrangements, mean that these new challenges require new responses to
ensure the best interests of the children involved are adequately catered for.