Question

A heart condition forced 25-year-old Susan to undergo a tubal ligation to prevent pregnancy, which could have resulted in her death and the death of the fetus. Both Susan and her husband Bob had planned to have a large family and have tried to adopt through various foreign adoption agencies, so far without success. They believe that Susan’s heart condition is a barrier as two siblings and her father died before the age of 40 of heart disease. Bob’s mother Myrtle, age 52 and just showing signs of entering menopause, has offered to be a surrogate to embryos created from Susan’s eggs and Bob’s sperm. Discuss the legal rights in reproductive matters that protect the plan proposed by Susan, Bob, and Myrtle

Summarize the actions you would take as a healthcare administrator in providing counsel to both the physician and the patient in this case. Emphasize the legal issues that might arise..

Answer 1

Reproductive rights are the legal rights related to pregnancy and birth. Generally speaking, these are the right to legal or safe abortion, the right to birth control, the right to access quality reproductive health care, the right to education, and the right to access in order to make informed reproductive choices. In this case, Susan and Bob are considering allowing Myrtle, Bob's mother to be the surrogate . It's their family choice about whom to make the surrogate . An agreement must be made before the procedure in front of the advocate about surrogacy. Court must be satisfied that surrogate and her husband have freely, with full understanding of what is involved, agreed unconditionally to the making of the order.