Surrogacy: beyond the commercial/altruistic distinction.
J Med Ethics
; 49(3): 196-199, 2023 03.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35314464
ABSTRACT
In this article, I critique the commonly accepted distinction between commercial and altruistic surrogacy arrangements. The moral legitimacy of surrogacy, I claim, does not hinge on whether it is paid ('commercial') or unpaid ('altruistic'); rather, it is best determined by appraisal of virtue-abiding conditions constitutive of the surrogacy arrangement. I begin my article by problematising the prevailing commercial/altruistic distinction; next, I demonstrate that an assessment of the virtue-abiding or non-virtue-abiding features of a surrogacy is crucial to navigating questions about the moral legitimacy of surrogacy; in the final part, I reject other moral heuristics that might be proposed as alternatives to the commercial/altruistic dichotomy, and reiterate that a virtue-ethical framework is the most suitable way forward.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Surrogate Mothers
/
Morals
Aspects:
Ethics
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Pregnancy
Language:
En
Journal:
J Med Ethics
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article