Common use of PROTECTION FROM HARM Clause in Contracts

PROTECTION FROM HARM. Children conceived through surrogacy agreements can experience various forms of harm and exploitation if their rights are not considered. In the event of parents losing a legal claim, a child could experience psychological trauma if taken from the parents who had cared for him or her and given to the surrogate.48 The child’s right to be protected from harm would mean parties not making decisions that negatively affect his or her well-being and health. Medical screening for genetic diseases and counselling before implantation in the surrogate will protect the child from harm. There should also be a limit to the number of agreements in which surrogates can participate, as the higher the number of pregnancies and births achieved, the higher the risk to the children produced. Another form of preventable harm is the risk of sexual, physical or emotional abuse by the partner of a single parent who has a child through a surrogate mother when that partner is not the biological parent of the child.49