Ethical and legal aspects of surrogacy - recommendations for the regulation of surrogacy in Vietnam

Abstract

The decade long complete ban on surrogacy aimed to protect traditional and cultural values in Vietnam. However, in spite of the legal prohibition, the social and cultural pressure to produce offspring often led Vietnamese infertile couples to seek the help of surrogate women in the black market. In 2014, after long parliamentary debates, Vietnamese law makers allowed altruistic surrogacy, opening a new way to parenthood for infertile couples in the country.

This research begins with an exploration of the legal and social background within which surrogacy operates in Vietnam. By examining the need for Vietnamese infertile couples to have genetically related children from religious and cultural perspectives, it explains why some couples chose surrogacy and made illegal surrogacy arrangements in spite of implications resulting from the black market.

Through an examination of procreative autonomy and the right to procreate, the thesis provides explanations and justifications for the use of surrogacy by infertile couples in Vietnam. It demonstrates that by removing the total ban on surrogacy and allowing altruistic surrogacy, the Vietnamese state enabled its citizens to effectively exercise procreative autonomy and enjoy the right to procreate in their pursuit of family formation and happiness.

Despite this progress the thesis identifies flaws in the current law on surrogacy and hence, brings forward proposals for further reforms of the law on surrogacy in Vietnam by referring to resolutions to similar problems under English law. It concludes by making clear recommendations for ways in which the current law can better support procreative autonomy and individual freedom to choose surrogacy as a means of overcoming infertility.

This research will be structured into 6 main chapters (plus introduction and conclusion chapters). Chapter 1 provides an overview on the legal system in Vietnam. Chapter 2 examines the social and cultural context for surrogacy in Vietnam. Chapter 3 studies concerns over implications of the black market of surrogacy in Vietnam. Chapter 4 is a study on the right to procreate in the context of surrogacy. Chapter 5 conducts an in-depth analysis of procreative autonomy in the context of surrogacy. Chapter 6 analyses the flaws or imperfections in the current Vietnamese law on surrogacy. The conclusion chapter proposes recommendations for further legal reforms on surrogacy in Vietnam in years to come.

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ORCID for Hazel Biggs: orcid.org/0000-0002-4434-6543

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